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

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,020,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the October 31st total of 5,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archrock

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Archrock by 0.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 84,245 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Archrock by 6.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Archrock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 32,648 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Archrock by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,280 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,278,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,425,517. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.77. Archrock has a 52-week low of $14.14 and a 52-week high of $26.36.

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

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Archrock’s payout ratio is 76.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AROC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Archrock from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Archrock from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Archrock in a report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.17.

About Archrock

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.