Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of 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 2.9 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $38.91 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $887.15 million, a PE ratio of -486.31 and a beta of 1.26. Astec Industries has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is -649.92%.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Astec Industries by 425.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.