Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,807 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $3,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $116,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Astec Industries by 425.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASTE. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 report on Monday, November 11th.

Astec Industries Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ASTE opened at $37.01 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week high of $44.74. The firm has a market cap of $843.83 million, a P/E ratio of -449.82 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.38. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $312.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently -649.92%.

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.