Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 1,030 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. Harvey Partners LLC raised its stake in Astec Industries by 101.4% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,007,000 after buying an additional 142,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 171,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 84,202 shares in the last quarter. Mill Road Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,467,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 134,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,290,000 after purchasing an additional 52,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 7.7% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,247,000 after buying an additional 41,800 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astec Industries Price Performance

ASTE opened at $32.46 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.31. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $740.15 million, a P/E ratio of -405.70 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently -650.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

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.