Archrock, Inc. $AROC Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 857,373 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,904 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Archrock were worth $29,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AROC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Archrock during the 4th quarter worth $61,144,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 9,756.7% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,293,002 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,644,000 after buying an additional 1,279,884 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,721,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the second quarter worth approximately $16,027,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,260,270.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,487,941.38. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,907,370 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $37.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.17 and a 12 month high of $42.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.43.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.05). Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The firm had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.36 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is 47.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Archrock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research cut Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.14.

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.