Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Short Interest Update

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 378,000 shares, a decrease of 10.1% from the October 15th total of 420,400 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 147,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of Astec Industries stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.72. 74,636 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 180,171. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Astec Industries has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $44.74.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -649.92%.

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.