Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $31.17, but opened at $34.82. Astec Industries shares last traded at $35.71, with a volume of 120,589 shares traded.

The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $359.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.10 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is -650.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Astec Industries by 802.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 14,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Trading Up 13.9 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.40 and a 200-day moving average of $33.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $809.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -443.57 and a beta of 1.31.

Astec Industries Company Profile

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.