Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes Position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,051 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Archrock by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,506 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 5,678 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Archrock by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 311,200 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,746,000 after buying an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Archrock by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 909,003 shares of the energy company's stock worth $22,625,000 after buying an additional 194,352 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Archrock stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $23.15. 475,789 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,418,425. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.27 and a 12-month high of $30.44. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.52. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.08.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. Archrock had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The business had revenue of $347.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.98 million. Equities analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 275,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,060.39. This trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Sidoti raised Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.67.

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.