Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

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

Astec Industries Stock Down 0.5 %

ASTE opened at $34.92 on Tuesday. Astec Industries has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $44.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.48. The firm has a market cap of $796.18 million, a P/E ratio of -436.45 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 319.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 12,217 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 38.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 56,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 15,736 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.