Nuveen LLC Acquires New Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has invested approximately $43 million in Archrock, Inc., acquiring over 1.6 million shares, representing around 0.94% of the company.
• Archrock recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.19 to $0.21, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%.
• The company reported a strong earnings performance with a 41.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, beating analyst estimates with earnings per share of $0.39.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,642,229 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $43,092,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.94% of Archrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Archrock by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,220 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Archrock by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,459 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 531,444 shares of the energy company's stock worth $13,229,000 after buying an additional 228,834 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,078 shares of the energy company's stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Archrock by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,240 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AROC traded up $0.3250 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.4450. 362,184 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,414,910. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.38 and a 1 year high of $30.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.74% and a net margin of 17.17%.The business had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $366.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AROC. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Sidoti raised Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.40.

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.