Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Astec Industries shares reached a new 52-week high of $48.90 during trading, reflecting a strong market performance with a last recorded price of $48.60.
• The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for its last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue fell short of estimates at $330.30 million.
• Insider selling occurred with Barend Snyman offloading 2,498 shares at an average price of $47.22, leading to a 13.83% decrease in their ownership stake.

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $48.90 and last traded at $48.60, with a volume of 7663 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $47.79.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

The business's 50-day moving average price is $43.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09 and a beta of 1.39.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.28. Astec Industries had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $330.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.00 million.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Barend Snyman sold 2,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.22, for a total transaction of $117,955.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $734,695.98. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Astec Industries during the second quarter worth $206,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Astec Industries by 7.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 77,930 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Astec Industries by 412.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 28.1% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 16,150 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 1,316.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,797 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 27,694 shares during the period. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.