Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $37.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $47.00.

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

Astec Industries Price Performance

Astec Industries stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.38. 459,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 161,951. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.33 and its 200-day moving average is $37.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.51. Astec Industries has a 52 week low of $28.97 and a 52 week high of $56.33. The firm has a market cap of $736.32 million, a PE ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Astec Industries will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTE. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 41,600.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the first quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Company 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.