Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,484,903 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,126 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.51% of Astec Industries worth $49,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Astec Industries by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,273,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,805,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Astec Industries by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 245,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,136 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,169,000 after buying an additional 9,635 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 184,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,209,000 after buying an additional 7,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Astec Industries Trading Up 2.0 %

ASTE opened at $38.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47. Astec Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $42.70. The company has a market cap of $869.52 million, a P/E ratio of -476.57 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $34.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.66.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.40 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

About Astec Industries

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.

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