Short Interest in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Decreases By 10.1%

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 378,000 shares, a decrease of 10.1% from the October 15th total of 420,400 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 147,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ASTE shares. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $36.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $834.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -458.94 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.30. Astec Industries has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $44.74.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 analysts’ expectations of $312.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -649.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 118.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 22,017 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 78.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 20,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 9,025 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Astec Industries by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 9,841 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Astec Industries by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,952,000 after purchasing an additional 26,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.