Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 421 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $5,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 65,426.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 473,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,319,000 after acquiring an additional 473,033 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,107,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,884,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,131,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,083,000 after acquiring an additional 86,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 222,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,268,000 after acquiring an additional 57,836 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:ASTE traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.87. 16,731 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 149,771. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.51 and a 200 day moving average of $36.42. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.63 and a 12 month high of $56.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $657.08 million, a P/E ratio of 26.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Astec Industries news, insider Michael Paul Norris bought 1,000 shares of Astec Industries stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% 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.