Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $28.61

Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $28.61 and last traded at $28.78, with a volume of 50993 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $653.44 million, a PE ratio of 26.34 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.23.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $343.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Paul Norris bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 100.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,165,000 after purchasing an additional 105,280 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 144,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,845 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter worth $250,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,413 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter worth $66,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Astec Industries

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.