Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Shares Sold by Teton Advisors LLC

Teton Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 29.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,700 shares during the period. Astec Industries makes up about 1.2% of Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Teton Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Astec Industries worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ASTE. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 8,994.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 412.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $194,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 Astec Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Longbow Research upgraded Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Astec Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of ASTE opened at $47.04 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $65.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.42.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $396.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.24 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Equities analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Astec Industries news, insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total value of $59,543.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $539,125.96. This represents a 9.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.99% of the company’s stock.

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.