Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ASTE traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.99. The company had a trading volume of 97,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,010. Astec Industries has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -437.32 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Astec Industries by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company's stock.

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.