Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Shares Sold by Teton Advisors LLC

Teton Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,700 shares during the quarter. Astec Industries makes up 1.2% of Teton Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,513,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $120,976,000 after acquiring an additional 34,535 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 1.1% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 818,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,372,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Astec Industries by 24.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,345,000 after purchasing an additional 132,095 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Astec Industries by 3.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 510,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,555,000 after purchasing an additional 15,357 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 501,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,113,000 after buying an additional 163,155 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $47.04 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $65.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.47.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $396.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Astec Industries news, insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 8,828 shares in the company, valued at $539,125.96. This represents a 9.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.99% of the company’s stock.

About Astec Industries

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.