Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stock Position in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 234,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,089,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,552,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Astec Industries by 79.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 101,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,403,000 after acquiring an additional 44,701 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 691.9% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 48,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 42,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 3,771.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,080,000 after acquiring an additional 42,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $45.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.71. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.04 and a 1 year high of $46.64.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $330.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.00 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 11.52%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.00.

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.