Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ASTE. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Longbow Research raised Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE stock opened at $51.49 on Friday. Astec Industries has a one year low of $29.65 and a one year high of $64.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.28.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $400.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.21 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 11.35%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Astec Industries news, insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total transaction of $59,543.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,125.96. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Astec Industries by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 9,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Astec Industries by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 578,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,365 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 539,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,510,000 after purchasing an additional 178,545 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,374,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,513,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $120,976,000 after purchasing an additional 34,535 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

About Astec Industries

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.