Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 331,700 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 28th total of 382,100 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 180,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASTE. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Astec Industries Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ASTE traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.57. 229,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 158,062. The stock has a market cap of $719.92 million, a PE ratio of -394.58 and a beta of 1.39. Astec Industries has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $44.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.54 and a 200 day moving average of $34.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.10 million.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 273.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at $319,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $236,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $754,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $353,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.