First Eagle Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 282,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,900 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $12,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 8,994.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 412.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $136,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $194,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASTE. Zacks Research lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Longbow Research raised shares of Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Astec Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE stock opened at $50.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.47. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $65.69.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $396.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $393.24 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 10.09%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Astec Industries

In related news, insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of Astec Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total value of $59,543.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,828 shares in the company, valued at $539,125.96. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Astec Industries Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.