Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 10,100 Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Astec Industries by 8,994.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 412.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Longbow Research upgraded shares of Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $56.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 50.00, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.34. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.82 and a 1 year high of $65.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.67.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $396.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.24 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 1.75%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Astec Industries Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.