Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,064,718 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 111,919 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.61% of Archrock worth $28,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Archrock by 24.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 56,849 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 11,231 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archrock by 3.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,077,999 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,912,000 after purchasing an additional 191,914 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Archrock by 69.9% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 113,294 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 46,626 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Archrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,657,000. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC opened at $35.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.87. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.12 and a 52 week high of $37.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.67.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The company had revenue of $377.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Archrock’s payout ratio is currently 48.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AROC shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Archrock from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Dawson James reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.86.

Insider Activity at Archrock

In related news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total transaction of $382,573.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,792.18. This represents a 27.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Archrock Company 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.