StockNews.com Upgrades Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

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

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.7 %

ASTE stock opened at $35.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $801.49 million, a PE ratio of -439.32 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.39 and a 200-day moving average of $33.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. Astec Industries has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $44.74.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 72.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 30,717 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Astec Industries by 1.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,637,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $689,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 38.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 61,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 16,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 6.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 50,109 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.