Legato Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,020 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned 0.11% of Astec Industries worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASTE. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth $424,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 278.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 27,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 20,234 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Astec Industries Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of ASTE opened at $33.68 on Wednesday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $56.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $766.73 million, a P/E ratio of 30.90 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.63.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $345.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.35 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.71%.

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.