Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $17.99 Million Investment in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 441,992 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,993,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Archrock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,766,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archrock by 85.8% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 225,040 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,161,000 after acquiring an additional 103,890 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the second quarter worth $393,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the second quarter worth $338,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the second quarter worth $7,734,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

NYSE AROC opened at $31.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.93 and a 200 day moving average of $35.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Archrock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.88 and a twelve month high of $42.23.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $371.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.19 million. Archrock had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 22.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is 49.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Archrock from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Archrock from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price objective on Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.29.

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.