Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTE traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $38.89. The stock had a trading volume of 132,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 148,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. Astec Industries has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $44.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.43. The stock has a market cap of $886.69 million, a P/E ratio of -486.06 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harvey Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 142,000 shares during the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 100.8% in the first quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,165,000 after purchasing an additional 105,280 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 96.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 171,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 84,202 shares during the last quarter. Mill Road Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at $2,467,000. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 64.3% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 134,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,290,000 after purchasing an additional 52,571 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.