Southport Management L.L.C. Takes $684,000 Position 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 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AROC. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Archrock by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,313 shares of the energy company's stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 5,665 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Archrock by 124.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 302,610 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,125,000 after buying an additional 167,648 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth $242,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Archrock by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,358,092 shares of the energy company's stock worth $58,693,000 after buying an additional 34,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Archrock by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 916,945 shares of the energy company's stock worth $22,823,000 after buying an additional 63,650 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AROC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sidoti raised Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Archrock Stock Performance

AROC stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.30. 745,383 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,458,585. Archrock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.27 and a twelve month high of $30.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

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

Archrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.41%.

Archrock declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Archrock Company Profile

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.