GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $695,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 65,426.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 473,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,319,000 after purchasing an additional 473,033 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 108,542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 27,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $564,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Astec Industries Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE opened at $32.38 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.97 and a 12-month high of $56.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $736.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.27 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. Astec Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 47.71%.

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.