Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 993 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Astec Industries were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,637,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 72.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 30,717 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 86,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 21,016 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,247,000 after buying an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $39.22 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $894.22 million, a P/E ratio of -490.19 and a beta of 1.30. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.46 and a fifty-two week high of $44.74.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The business had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -649.92%.

Astec Industries 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.