Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $38.28 and last traded at $38.3450, with a volume of 49,270 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ASTE. Wall Street Zen downgraded Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Astec Industries has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $879.82 million, a P/E ratio of 44.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $408.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.50 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 10.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 61.18%.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1,128.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

About Astec Industries

Astec Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTE) designs, engineers, manufactures and services equipment used in the construction of infrastructure and the processing of aggregates. Its products support road building, asphalt production, concrete production, aggregate processing and related industrial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants and related equipment, concrete plants, crushers, screens, feeders, material-handling systems, thermal-processing equipment and road-building machinery.