Viking Fund Management LLC Boosts Stake in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 220,000 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Archrock were worth $5,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 611.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,942 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,682,000 after purchasing an additional 154,633 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $776,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Henson Edgewater Management LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $653,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Archrock by 17.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 438,624 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,540,000 after buying an additional 64,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In other 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 value of $382,573.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,757 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,792.18. This represents a 27.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Archrock Stock Up 0.6%

AROC stock opened at $37.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.61. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.12 and a 12 month high of $37.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Archrock’s payout ratio is presently 48.09%.

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.