Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the November 30th total of 5,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AROC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Archrock from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Archrock from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Archrock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.17.

Institutional Trading of Archrock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 1,680.2% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 1,530,440 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,471 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock in the third quarter worth $22,108,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Archrock by 60.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,343,652 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,389,000 after acquiring an additional 882,024 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Archrock by 11.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,836,745 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $138,376,000 after acquiring an additional 707,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Archrock by 20.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,958,281 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $80,036,000 after purchasing an additional 672,663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC remained flat at $24.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. 993,597 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,419,444. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Archrock has a 52-week low of $14.39 and a 52-week high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.57.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The energy company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Archrock had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $292.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Archrock will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.175 dividend. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Archrock Company Profile

Archrock, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Contract Operations and Aftermarket Services. It engages in the designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing, and maintaining of its owned fleet of natural gas compression equipment to provide natural gas compression services.