Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires Shares of 23,051 Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,051 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Archrock by 164.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 580.6% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,485 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,826 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Archrock Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of AROC stock opened at $23.41 on Wednesday. Archrock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.27 and a twelve month high of $30.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.08.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $347.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is 64.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 275,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,060.39. This trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sidoti raised Archrock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

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.