Archrock (NYSE:AROC) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.50 and last traded at $37.4430, with a volume of 191539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AROC has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Zacks Research raised Archrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archrock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.14.

Archrock Stock Down 0.4%

The firm has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.87. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.68.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. 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 prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS 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 given 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 currently 48.09%.

Insider Activity at Archrock

In related news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 27,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,792.18. This trade represents a 27.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archrock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AROC. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 127,471 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 36,847 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Archrock by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,052 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Archrock by 247.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 105,063 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 74,818 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Archrock by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,719,020 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $226,869,000 after purchasing an additional 457,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Archrock by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,519 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

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.