Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $38.85 and last traded at $38.8050, with a volume of 36997 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astec Industries presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Trading Down 5.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $894.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.72, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 2.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.83.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $408.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $405.50 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 10.26%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.18%.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $212,732,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,433,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,176,000 after acquiring an additional 22,154 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 342,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,840,000 after acquiring an additional 45,203 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,783,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,538,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTE) designs, engineers, manufactures and services equipment used in the construction of infrastructure and the processing of aggregates. Its products support road building, asphalt production, concrete production, aggregate processing and related industrial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants and related equipment, concrete plants, crushers, screens, feeders, material-handling systems, thermal-processing equipment and road-building machinery.