SG Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

SG Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 100.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,280 shares during the quarter. Astec Industries comprises about 3.0% of SG Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. SG Capital Management LLC owned about 0.92% of Astec Industries worth $9,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 41,600.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter worth about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Paul Norris purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.46 per share, for a total transaction of $33,460.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASTE. StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Stock Down 4.2 %

Astec Industries stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.07. 143,092 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.51. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $56.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.93. The company has a market cap of $729.91 million, a PE ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 1.30.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its 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 return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 47.71%.

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.