Astec Industries, Inc. (ASTE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.25.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BidaskClub lowered Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. ValuEngine lowered Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Dougherty & Co raised Astec Industries from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. William Blair reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Friday, April 13th.

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In related news, CEO Benjamin G. Brock sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.41, for a total value of $598,510.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xact Kapitalforvaltning AB acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $257,000. Global X Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 316.7% in the 1st quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $260,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at $304,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at $365,000. 88.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $60.20 on Friday. Astec Industries has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $64.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 6.09% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $325.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts expect that Astec Industries will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 14th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 11th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets equipment and components for the road building, aggregate processing, geothermal, water, oil and gas, and wood processing industries in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Infrastructure Group, Aggregate and Mining Group, and Energy Group segments.