Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Short Interest Up 34.3% in June

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 521,600 shares, an increase of 34.3% from the May 31st total of 388,300 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 161,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $29.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Astec Industries has a 1-year low of $28.94 and a 1-year high of $56.33. The company has a market capitalization of $675.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.63 and a 200 day moving average of $36.64.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. 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. Astec Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Astec Industries will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASTE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Astec Industries

In other news, insider Michael Paul Norris purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 65,426.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 473,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,319,000 after buying an additional 473,033 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $13,107,000. SG Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 100.8% in the first quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,165,000 after purchasing an additional 105,280 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,131,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,083,000 after purchasing an additional 86,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 251.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,217,000 after purchasing an additional 68,991 shares during the last quarter. 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.