Hsbc Holdings PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,173 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASTE. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Astec Industries by 2,112.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 665,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,121,000 after purchasing an additional 634,989 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 4.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,042,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $173,816,000 after acquiring an additional 178,771 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the first quarter worth $2,721,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 20.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 342,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,733,000 after acquiring an additional 57,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 5.9% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,027,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,063,000 after acquiring an additional 57,071 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASTE shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st.

Astec Industries Trading Down 3.6 %

Astec Industries stock opened at $45.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38 and a beta of 1.52. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.04 and a fifty-two week high of $49.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.54.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $349.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.55 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 4.38% and a negative net margin of 0.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%.

About Astec Industries

(Get Rating)

Astec Industries, Inc engages in the manufacture of equipment and components for the infrastructure, and aggregate and mining industries. It operates through the following segments: Infrastructure Solutions, Material Solutions, and Corporate. The Infrastructure Solutions segment markets line of asphalt plants and related components, asphalt pavers, screeds, milling machines, material transfer vehicles, stabilizers, and related ancillary equipment.