Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Shares Acquired by Easterly Investment Partners LLC

Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 68.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,907 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTE opened at $36.52 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.11. The company has a market capitalization of $832.80 million, a PE ratio of -456.44 and a beta of 1.32. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $359.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.10 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.68%.

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.