Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Astec Industries as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $123,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 4,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 5,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $41.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $950.53 million, a P/E ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 1.38. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.97 and a 52 week high of $56.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.37.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $337.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.33 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Analysts predict that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 35.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th.

Astec Industries 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.