Short Interest in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) Decreases By 8.1%

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a decrease of 8.1% from the August 15th total of 4,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Archrock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in shares of Archrock by 4,211.9% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 5,903,142 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $90,908,000 after acquiring an additional 5,766,237 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Archrock by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,113,865 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $78,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399,309 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the first quarter valued at approximately $24,875,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,958,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 882,024 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AROC traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $20.40. 1,155,421 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,464,020. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.83. Archrock has a 52-week low of $11.73 and a 52-week high of $23.44.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The energy company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $270.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.61 million. Archrock had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 16.35%. Equities research analysts forecast that Archrock will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Archrock’s payout ratio is presently 79.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Archrock from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.50.

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.