Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 107,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,612,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.47% of Astec Industries as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 569,089 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,180,000 after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 118.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 22,017 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 56,586 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15,736 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 319.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,045 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 12,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,952,000 after purchasing an additional 26,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have commented on ASTE shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Astec Industries
Astec Industries Stock Performance
ASTE stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.17. The stock had a trading volume of 12,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 159,797. The firm has a market cap of $779.21 million, a PE ratio of -427.07 and a beta of 1.39. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.30. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week high of $44.03.
Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.10 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%.
Astec Industries Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is currently 273.68%.
About Astec Industries
(
Free Report)
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.
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