Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Buys New Shares in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 32.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.8% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 0.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 213,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASTE shares. StockNews.com cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $29.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.74. The company has a market cap of $681.36 million, a PE ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.97 and a 12-month high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.27 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

Insider Transactions at Astec Industries

In other news, insider Michael Paul Norris bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at $531,545.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% 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.