Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 123.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,042 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. Harvey Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,007,000 after buying an additional 142,000 shares during the last quarter. Mill Road Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $2,467,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 215,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,888,000 after purchasing an additional 41,130 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 162,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,466,000 after purchasing an additional 28,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,952,000 after purchasing an additional 26,256 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTE has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of ASTE opened at $35.62 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $44.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $812.28 million, a PE ratio of -445.19 and a beta of 1.32.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $359.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.10 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently 273.68%.

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.