Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Short Interest Down 14.5% in February

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 382,100 shares, a decrease of 14.5% from the February 13th total of 446,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 172,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Astec Industries by 802.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ASTE opened at $36.24 on Wednesday. Astec Industries has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week high of $44.74. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $826.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -452.94 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.92.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.46. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The business had revenue of $359.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.10 million.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is presently 273.68%.

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.