Legal & General Group Plc Sells 23,664 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 461,897 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 23,664 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.26% of Archrock worth $12,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AROC. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archrock in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 217.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 234.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,410 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Archrock news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.30, for a total value of $1,340,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 359,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,762,607.10. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,260,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 327,550 shares of company stock valued at $11,861,703. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AROC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.14.

Archrock Price Performance

AROC stock opened at $34.24 on Thursday. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.17 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.57. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.87.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.05). Archrock had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 21.45%.The firm had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $378.36 million. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s payout ratio is 47.83%.

Archrock Profile

Archrock, Inc is a Houston‐based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment to the oil and gas industry in North America. Founded in 2004, the company supplies both short‐term rentals and long‐term contracts for compression solutions, serving upstream and midstream producers. Archrock’s offerings include engineered compression systems, aftermarket parts, maintenance and field services designed to optimize wellhead and pipeline operations.

The company’s core business activities focus on the design, manufacture, rental and sale of gas compression equipment.