Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Stake in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired 210,844 shares of Archrock, Inc. ($AROC), valued at approximately $5.53 million, representing a 0.12% stake in the company.
• In the latest quarterly earnings, Archrock reported an EPS of $0.39, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.37, and a revenue of $383.15 million, a 41.6% year-over-year increase.
• Archrock has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.21 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.5%, and initiated a stock buyback program worth $50 million.

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 210,844 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $5,533,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.12% 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 the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Archrock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 13,074,904 shares of the energy company's stock worth $325,434,000 after buying an additional 47,563 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Archrock by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,951,896 shares of the energy company's stock worth $234,898,000 after buying an additional 67,947 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Archrock by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,388,964 shares of the energy company's stock worth $141,406,000 after buying an additional 461,940 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Archrock by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,241,032 shares of the energy company's stock worth $55,779,000 after buying an additional 376,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Archrock by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,957,444 shares of the energy company's stock worth $48,721,000 after buying an additional 75,684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

NYSE:AROC traded up $0.2550 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.2150. 1,816,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,377. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.10. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.38 and a 52-week high of $30.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company's 50 day moving average price is $23.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.69.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 18.74%. 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 previous year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to purchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of Archrock 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 directly owned 224,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,292,003.86. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AROC. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archrock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.40.

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.