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

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on 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 Price Performance

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $32.60 on Wednesday. Astec Industries has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. 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’s 50 day moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day moving average is $33.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $743.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -407.45 and a beta of 1.31.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Astec Industries by 1.9% during the 2nd 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. State Street Corp increased its position in Astec Industries by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,952,000 after buying an additional 26,256 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 7.7% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 581,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,247,000 after buying an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 4.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 101.4% in the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,007,000 after acquiring an additional 142,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

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.