Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:ASTE traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $38.89. 132,445 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 148,727. Astec Industries has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $886.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -486.06 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.07 and a 200-day moving average of $32.43.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 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 business had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,637,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 3.1% in 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. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 7.7% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,247,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 4.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 569,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,180,000 after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 101.4% in the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,007,000 after purchasing an additional 142,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.