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

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archrock

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AROC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Archrock by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Archrock by 0.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Archrock by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AROC traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 461,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,421,314. Archrock has a 12 month low of $14.14 and a 12 month high of $26.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 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 has a 50-day moving average of $22.19 and a 200-day moving average of $20.77.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The energy company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $292.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.19 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Archrock will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Archrock’s payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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