Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Reaches 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 stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.35 and last traded at $44.30, with a volume of 223129 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Astec Industries Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69 and a beta of 1.43. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $40.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.60.

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

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 26.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 98.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 361,390 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,450,000 after buying an additional 179,618 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 22.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 819,913 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,247,000 after buying an additional 150,634 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 77,508.8% during the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 131,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,500,000 after buying an additional 131,765 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 1st quarter worth $4,419,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 494,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,629,000 after acquiring an additional 113,765 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.