Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 426,300 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the August 31st total of 376,900 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 91,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.
Institutional Trading of Astec Industries
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Astec Industries by 182.7% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Astec Industries by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Astec Industries Stock Down 2.1 %
ASTE traded down $0.66 on Friday, reaching $31.19. The company had a trading volume of 167,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,683. Astec Industries has a 1 year low of $31.04 and a 1 year high of $75.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $713.00 million, a PE ratio of 1,559.50 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.81.
Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.31). Astec Industries had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 3.72%. The firm had revenue of $318.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Astec Industries will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Astec Industries Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 12th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 11th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently 2,400.00%.
Astec Industries Company Profile
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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