Head to Head Comparison: Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) vs. VAT Group (OTCMKTS:VACNY)

VAT Group (OTCMKTS:VACNY) and Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.2% of Astec Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Astec Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares VAT Group and Astec Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VAT Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Astec Industries	1.26%	10.26%	5.01%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares VAT Group and Astec Industries”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VAT Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Astec Industries	$1.41 billion	0.68	$38.80 million	$0.85	48.71

Astec Industries has higher revenue and earnings than VAT Group.

Dividends

VAT Group pays an annual dividend of $0.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Astec Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Astec Industries pays out 61.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for VAT Group and Astec Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VAT Group	0	3	3	2	2.88
Astec Industries	1	1	0	2	2.75

Summary

Astec Industries beats VAT Group on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VAT Group

VAT Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies vacuum valves, multi-valve units, vacuum modules, and edge-welded metal bellows in Switzerland, rest of Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, rest of Asia, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Valves and Global Service. The Valves segment offers vacuum valves for the semiconductor, displays, photovoltaics, and vacuum coating industries, as well as for the industrial and research sector. The Global Service segment provides spare parts, repairs, and upgrades, as well as support services. The company offers vacuum isolation, gate, angle, inline, cylinder, and all-metal valves; vacuum pendulum and butterfly valves; 3 position and vacuum control valves; vacuum transfer valves and doors; and pressure relief, venting, gas dosing, fast closing, and beam stopper valves. VAT Group AG was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Sennwald, Switzerland.

About Astec Industries

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. This segment provides its products to asphalt producers; highway and heavy equipment contractors; utility contractors; sand and gravel producers; construction, demolition, recycle and crushing contractors; forestry and environmental recycling contractors; mine and quarry operators; port and inland terminal authorities; power stations; and domestic and foreign government agencies. The Materials Solutions segment designs and manufactures crushing equipment, mobile plants, bulk material handling solutions, vibrating equipment, screening equipment, electrical control centers, modular plants and systems, conveying equipment, plant automation products, portable plants, and mineral processing equipment, as well as offers consulting and engineering services. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.