Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 118.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,529 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,017 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.18% of Astec Industries worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 1.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,637,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,952,000 after acquiring an additional 26,256 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,247,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC boosted its position in Astec Industries by 101.4% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,007,000 after purchasing an additional 142,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 23.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 215,654 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,888,000 after purchasing an additional 41,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Astec Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.22. 71,263 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 146,221. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $35.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.08. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.74. The company has a market cap of $757.48 million, a P/E ratio of -415.20 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -650.00%.

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.