Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 93.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 68,251 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,971 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Archrock were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AROC. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Archrock in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,875,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 60.3% in the 2nd 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,321,555 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $360,385,000 after acquiring an additional 849,750 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 20.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Archrock by 309.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 528,272 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,682,000 after acquiring an additional 399,336 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archrock Stock Performance

Archrock stock opened at $23.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.65 and a 12-month high of $23.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53 and a beta of 1.52.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Archrock from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Archrock from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Archrock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.50.

Archrock 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.