Swiss National Bank Decreases Position in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.17% of Astec Industries worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Astec Industries by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Astec Industries by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Astec Industries by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTE opened at $46.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.43. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.04 and a fifty-two week high of $46.64. 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 (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $330.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.00 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.50%.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

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.