Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

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

Astec Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $38.89 on Monday. Astec Industries has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.43. The firm has a market cap of $886.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -486.06 and a beta of 1.26.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.90 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 69.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter worth about $66,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.