Arizona State Retirement System Acquires New Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 2.1% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 31.2% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 66,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 18.6% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 4,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $39.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $891.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.12 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.79. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.04 and a 52-week high of $49.56.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.31. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $347.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Astec Industries from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Astec Industries in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

Astec Industries Company Profile

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Astec Industries, Inc engages in the design, engineer, manufacture, and market of equipment and components used in road building and construction activities. It operates through the following segments: Infrastructure Solutions, Material Solutions, and Corporate and Other. The Infrastructure Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets a complete line of asphalt plants, concrete plants, and ancillary equipment, as well as supplying asphalt road construction equipment, industrial thermal systems, and heavy equipment.