USA Compression Partners (NYSE:USAC) Shares Cross Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• USA Compression Partners shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as $25.25 versus the $27.12 average. The stock last traded near $25.49.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly neutral: the consensus rating is “Hold” from MarketBeat, with a $29.50 target price. Recent firms issued mixed changes, including a downgrade from Buy to Hold and target-price increases from Mizuho and RBC.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.31, exceeding the $0.28 estimate, and maintains a sizable quarterly dividend of $0.525, equivalent to an 8.2% annualized yield; however, its payout ratio is high at 198.11%.

USA Compression Partners, LP (NYSE:USAC - Get Free Report)'s share price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $27.12 and traded as low as $25.25. USA Compression Partners shares last traded at $25.4880, with a volume of 323,508 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on USAC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of USA Compression Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of USA Compression Partners from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of USA Compression Partners from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of USA Compression Partners from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, USA Compression Partners presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.50.

USA Compression Partners Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.25, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $26.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.23.

USA Compression Partners (NYSE:USAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. USA Compression Partners had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 179.77%. The firm had revenue of $342.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.49 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that USA Compression Partners, LP will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

USA Compression Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 27th were issued a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 27th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. USA Compression Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 198.11%.

Insider Transactions at USA Compression Partners

In other news, Director Bradford Whitehurst acquired 6,000 shares of USA Compression Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.10 per share, with a total value of $156,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 43,616 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,377.60. This trade represents a 15.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USAC. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of USA Compression Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in USA Compression Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $117,000. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in USA Compression Partners during the first quarter worth about $212,000. TSA Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of USA Compression Partners in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of USA Compression Partners in the second quarter valued at about $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.77% of the company's stock.

USA Compression Partners Company Profile

USA Compression Partners LP NYSE: USAC is a publicly traded master limited partnership that provides natural gas compression services to customers across the United States. The company supports the movement of natural gas through gathering, processing, transmission, storage and related midstream systems.

USA Compression owns and operates a fleet of natural gas compression equipment, including large reciprocating compressors and associated infrastructure. Its services help maintain the pressure needed to transport natural gas from production areas to processing facilities, pipelines, storage locations and end markets.

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