Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday. The stock traded as low as $38.28 and last traded at $38.3450, with a volume of 49,270 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.81 and its 200 day moving average is $50.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $884.08 million, a PE ratio of 45.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,732,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,433,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,176,000 after acquiring an additional 22,154 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 105.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 301,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,136,000 after acquiring an additional 154,802 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the second quarter worth $14,783,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Astec Industries during the second quarter worth $13,538,000. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.