Versor Investments LP Buys New Shares in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 669,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,488,000 after purchasing an additional 35,690 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 98.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 361,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,450,000 after purchasing an additional 179,618 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 6.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 282,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,728,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Astec Industries by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,847,000 after buying an additional 34,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Astec Industries by 27.1% during the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 234,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,089,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astec Industries Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $44.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.04 and a fifty-two week high of $46.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.77.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.28. Astec Industries had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $330.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.00 million.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Astec Industries Company Profile

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.