Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 318,870 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 279% from the previous session’s volume of 84,219 shares.The stock last traded at $31.38 and had previously closed at $31.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

Astec Industries Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $713.93 million, a P/E ratio of -391.33 and a beta of 1.31. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.90 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.01) EPS.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is -650.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. State Street Corp increased 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 worth $27,952,000 after acquiring an additional 26,256 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 7.7% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,247,000 after acquiring an additional 41,800 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $18,180,000 after acquiring an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,007,000 after purchasing an additional 142,000 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is currently 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.