ProShare Advisors LLC Invests $393,000 in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth $226,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.52% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $43.32 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.31 and a 52 week high of $75.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.01. The stock has a market cap of $989.52 million, a PE ratio of 74.69 and a beta of 1.30.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.30. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 4.74% and a net margin of 1.20%. The firm had revenue of $291.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 13th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 12th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.76%.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASTE. StockNews.com cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Investment Research cut Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut Astec Industries from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 8th.

Astec Industries Profile (Get Rating)

Astec Industries, Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets equipment and components used primarily in road building and related construction activities in the United States and internationally. 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.

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