Short Interest in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Increases By 12.6%

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 425,500 shares, an increase of 12.6% from the October 31st total of 378,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 143,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASTE. StockNews.com cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $38.61 on Friday. Astec Industries has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.74. The company has a market cap of $880.31 million, a P/E ratio of -482.56 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.58.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted 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. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is -649.92%.

Astec Industries Company 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.