Southport Management L.L.C. Purchases New Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Southport Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,500 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $684,000. Archrock makes up approximately 2.5% of Southport Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 111.8% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Archrock by 580.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,485 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 3,826 shares during the period. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AROC shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Insider Activity

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 275,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,060.39. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Archrock Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE AROC traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 237,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,444,345. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.27 and a 52-week high of $30.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.49.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $347.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.98 million. Archrock had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 16.24%. Research analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock's payout ratio is 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archrock

Archrock, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Contract Operations and Aftermarket Services. It engages in the designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing, and maintaining of its owned fleet of natural gas compression equipment to provide natural gas compression services.