Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE stock opened at $39.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $894.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -490.19 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $44.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.68.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Astec Industries by 118.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 22,017 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Astec Industries by 4.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in 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 valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 9,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.