Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Astec Industries reached a new 52-week high of $44.35, with strong trading volume on the day.
• Wall Street Zen upgraded Astec Industries from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating, highlighting increased investor confidence.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13, representing an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 26.13%.

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.35 and last traded at $44.30, with a volume of 223129 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Astec Industries Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 1.43.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.28. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.50%. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 26.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 0.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 819,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,247,000 after acquiring an additional 150,634 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 578,228 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,365 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 539,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,510,000 after acquiring an additional 178,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

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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