Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.06% of Astec Industries worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Astec Industries stock opened at $38.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.93 and its 200-day moving average is $34.68. The company has a market cap of $869.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -476.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $42.70.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Astec Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASTE shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

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.