Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.32 and last traded at $42.46, with a volume of 113706 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $974.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.55 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.03.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.42. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.15%. The firm had revenue of $329.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 4.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,635 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Astec Industries by 123.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 16,346 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased 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 worth $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 103,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,482,000 after purchasing an additional 26,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.