Skylands Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASTE. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 4,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTE traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.81. 2,084 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 127,166. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.97 and a 52-week high of $56.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $973.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.31 and its 200-day moving average is $37.39.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.28. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm had revenue of $337.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.33 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.37%.

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.