Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,807 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,807 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Astec Industries worth $3,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 12.8% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 22,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 72.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 30,717 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,637,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $689,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of 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 $33.29 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $44.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.14. The company has a market capitalization of $759.08 million, a P/E ratio of -416.07 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted 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. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -650.00%.

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.