StockNews.com Downgrades Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Astec Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday.

Astec Industries Price Performance

ASTE stock opened at $32.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $736.32 million, a PE ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 1.40. Astec Industries has a one year low of $28.97 and a one year high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Astec Industries will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $564,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 15.9% in the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 4,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 9.2% during 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 buying an additional 32,236 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Astec Industries by 44.4% during 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 buying an additional 4,113 shares during the period. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $294,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

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.