Easterly Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 68.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,907 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Astec Industries worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter worth $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird upped 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.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $36.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week high of $44.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $832.80 million, a P/E ratio of -456.44 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.11.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46. The company 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 273.68%.

Astec Industries 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.