First Eagle Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 236,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 1.04% of Astec Industries worth $10,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $13,107,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in Astec Industries by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 13,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Astec Industries

In other Astec Industries news, insider Michael Paul Norris acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,545.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ASTE shares. StockNews.com cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.5 %

ASTE traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.19. 52,715 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,586. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.01. The firm has a market cap of $755.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 1.30. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.71%.

Astec Industries Profile

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.