HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 93,903 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 116,804 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 93,903 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Archrock were worth $3,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its position in Archrock by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Archrock by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,290 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Archrock by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Archrock by 3.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,030 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Archrock by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 40,086 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of AROC stock opened at $33.45 on Friday. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.17 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.50 and a 200-day moving average of $31.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued 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 business had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.36 million. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Archrock’s payout ratio is 47.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Dawson James reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.86.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $382,573.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total value of $3,408,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,835,554.12. The trade was a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 337,963 shares of company stock worth $12,244,277 over the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Archrock

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.