Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,934,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,235 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 8.51% of Astec Industries worth $71,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $564,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Astec Industries by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 381,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,956,000 after purchasing an additional 32,236 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Astec Industries by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter worth $294,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 989.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 92,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,366,000 after purchasing an additional 84,176 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTE opened at $32.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $736.32 million, a P/E ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 1.40. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.97 and a fifty-two week high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

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.