Peregrine Capital Management LLC Sells 9,952 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,952 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned about 0.45% of Astec Industries worth $5,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 8,994.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Astec Industries by 412.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Longbow Research upgraded Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Astec Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.7%

ASTE opened at $60.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.82 and a fifty-two week high of $65.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.68, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.34.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $396.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.24 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 10.09%. As a group, research analysts predict that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.43%.

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.