Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $6.30 Million Stock Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,845 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.63% of Astec Industries worth $6,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $424,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,884,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 190.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after acquiring an additional 43,211 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 68,991 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Astec Industries by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,531,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,984,000 after acquiring an additional 29,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ASTE shares. StockNews.com lowered Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity at Astec Industries

In related news, insider Michael Paul Norris acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.46 per share, for a total transaction of $33,460.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ASTE stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $34.97. The company had a trading volume of 94,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,582. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.54 and a 200 day moving average of $35.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $795.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 1.30. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.27 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS.

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.