The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 3.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 19,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $32.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $44.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.63. The company has a market cap of $733.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.11). Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.18% and a positive return on equity of 6.56%. The business had revenue of $345.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 47.71%.

About Astec Industries

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.