48,979 Shares in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 48,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,997,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,732,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,433,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,176,000 after purchasing an additional 22,154 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Astec Industries by 1.1% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 818,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,372,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Astec Industries by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 586,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,392,000 after purchasing an additional 75,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Astec Industries by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 431,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,672,000 after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE stock opened at $44.22 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.47 and a twelve month high of $65.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.02, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly 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. Analysts predict that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 61.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given 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 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.