Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Short Interest Down 10.1% in October

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 378,000 shares, a drop of 10.1% from the October 15th total of 420,400 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 147,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. SG Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 100.8% in the first quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,165,000 after buying an additional 105,280 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 251.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,217,000 after purchasing an additional 68,991 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,637,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 72.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 30,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 31.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 86,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 21,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ ASTE opened at $36.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $837.29 million, a P/E ratio of -459.00 and a beta of 1.26. Astec Industries has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $44.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.44 and a 200-day moving average of $32.38.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $291.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. Astec Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently -650.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

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.