Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,756 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Archrock were worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AROC. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Archrock by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 302,610 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,125,000 after purchasing an additional 167,648 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Archrock during the third quarter worth about $314,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 175.7% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 567,240 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,470,000 after purchasing an additional 361,520 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Archrock by 145.8% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 76,650 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 45,466 shares during the period. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC stock opened at $24.82 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.39 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.39.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The energy company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is an increase from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AROC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Archrock from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.