Barclays PLC Has $1.56 Million Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,841 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.20% of Astec Industries worth $1,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Astec Industries by 802.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,552,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,822,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $260,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASTE. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $38.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $869.52 million, a PE ratio of -476.57 and a beta of 1.39. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $42.70.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.42. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

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.