Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

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

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $38.14 on Wednesday. Astec Industries has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $44.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $869.67 million, a PE ratio of -476.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $218,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 118.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 22,017 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $18,180,000 after buying an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Astec Industries by 78.6% in 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 during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.