Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of Astec Industries worth $3,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 66.4% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 802.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 14,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.8%

ASTE stock opened at $38.90 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.04 and a twelve month high of $43.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $889.64 million, a P/E ratio of 58.94 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.44 and a 200-day moving average of $36.49.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.42. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.79%.

Astec Industries Company 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.