13,192 Shares in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 65,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after purchasing an additional 8,847 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter worth about $1,526,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 188.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 148,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,111,000 after purchasing an additional 96,883 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 2.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 65,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 2.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 46,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ASTE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Astec Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $44.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.05. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.47 and a 1 year high of $65.69.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.10). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The company had revenue of $408.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 61.18%.

Astec Industries 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.