Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 857,373 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,904 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Archrock worth $29,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AROC. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Archrock during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at $10,595,968.26. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.30, for a total transaction of $1,340,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 359,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,762,607.10. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock worth $5,907,370. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Archrock stock opened at $37.10 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.09 and a 200-day moving average of $34.43. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.17 and a 52-week high of $42.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.05). Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The business had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.36 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 target price on Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.14.

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.