Archrock (NYSE:AROC) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $35.74, but opened at $33.50. Archrock shares last traded at $34.10, with a volume of 426,757 shares.

The energy company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $371.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.19 million. Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. Archrock’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Archrock’s payout ratio is currently 47.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AROC shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Archrock from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on Archrock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archrock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total transaction of $3,306,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 394,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,487,941.38. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 158,000 shares of company stock worth $5,907,370 over the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archrock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 0.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,866 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Archrock by 217.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 482.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 279,100 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,930,000 after purchasing an additional 55,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,700 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archrock Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.86.

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.