Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ASTE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Astec Industries has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Astec Industries stock opened at $41.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Astec Industries has a 12 month low of $39.38 and a 12 month high of $65.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.83. The company has a market cap of $949.81 million, a PE ratio of 48.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 61.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $212,732,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Astec Industries by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,433,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,176,000 after acquiring an additional 22,154 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Astec Industries by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 342,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,840,000 after acquiring an additional 45,203 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $14,783,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the second quarter worth $13,538,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

About Astec Industries

Astec Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTE) designs, engineers, manufactures and services equipment used in the construction of infrastructure and the processing of aggregates. Its products support road building, asphalt production, concrete production, aggregate processing and related industrial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants and related equipment, concrete plants, crushers, screens, feeders, material-handling systems, thermal-processing equipment and road-building machinery.