Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases Shares of 176,374 Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired a new stake in Archrock, Inc. consisting of 176,374 shares valued at approximately $4,628,000, representing 0.10% ownership of the company.
• Archrock has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.19 to $0.21, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.60%, with a payout ratio of 64.41%.
• The company recently announced a $50 million share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 176,374 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $4,628,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.10% of Archrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Archrock by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,459 shares of the energy company's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Archrock by 4.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,761 shares of the energy company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Archrock by 6.0% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,133 shares of the energy company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Archrock by 0.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 146,819 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Archrock

In other news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 275,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,060.39. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.44. The company had a trading volume of 493,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,746. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.37. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.26 and a 52-week high of $30.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $347.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.98 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 16.38%. Research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Sidoti upgraded Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.00.

Archrock Company 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.