Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $28.94

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $28.94 and last traded at $28.94, with a volume of 9262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $668.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.27 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The business’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.71%.

Insider Activity at Astec Industries

In other Astec Industries news, insider Michael Paul Norris acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 12,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 65,426.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 473,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,319,000 after acquiring an additional 473,033 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 213,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 68.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 29,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 12,119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets equipment and components used primarily in road building and related construction activities worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Infrastructure Solutions and Materials Solutions. The Infrastructure Solutions segment offers asphalt plants and related components, heaters, concrete dust control systems, asphalt pavers, vaporizers, concrete material handling systems, screeds, heat recovery units, paste back-fill plants, asphalt storage tanks, hot oil heaters, bagging plants, fuel storage tanks, industrial and asphalt burners and systems, custom batch plants, material transfer vehicles, soil stabilizing-reclaiming machinery, blower trucks and trailers, milling machines, soil remediation plants, wood chippers and grinders, pump trailers, concrete batch plants, control systems, liquid terminals, storage equipment and related parts, construction and retrofits, polymer plants, and concrete mixers, as well as engineering and environmental permitting services.