Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $38.34 on Monday. Astec Industries has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $44.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.34 and a 200-day moving average of $32.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The company had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -649.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 118.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 22,017 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 569,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,180,000 after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 78.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 20,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 9,025 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Astec Industries

Astec Industries, Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets equipment and components used primarily in road building and related construction activities worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Infrastructure Solutions and Materials Solutions. The Infrastructure Solutions segment offers asphalt plants and related components, heaters, concrete dust control systems, asphalt pavers, vaporizers, concrete material handling systems, screeds, heat recovery units, paste back-fill plants, asphalt storage tanks, hot oil heaters, bagging plants, fuel storage tanks, industrial and asphalt burners and systems, custom batch plants, material transfer vehicles, soil stabilizing-reclaiming machinery, blower trucks and trailers, milling machines, soil remediation plants, wood chippers and grinders, pump trailers, concrete batch plants, control systems, liquid terminals, storage equipment and related parts, construction and retrofits, polymer plants, and concrete mixers, as well as engineering and environmental permitting services.