Meeder Asset Management Inc. Makes New $86,000 Investment in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.8 %

ASTE opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $791.75 million, a P/E ratio of -433.95 and a beta of 1.32. Astec Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $44.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.46. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The business had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.10 million.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 273.68%.

Astec Industries 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.