Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.99 and last traded at $50.5140, with a volume of 102889 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Astec Industries to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

Astec Industries Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.34 and its 200-day moving average is $45.49.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $350.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.00 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 11.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Astec Industries by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 83,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,604,000 after acquiring an additional 26,588 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth $1,056,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 8,994.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $434,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 519.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 14,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.