Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Stock: Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stake

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management more than doubled its Astec Industries stake by purchasing 154,802 additional shares in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 301,598 shares valued at $12.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.16% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with two Strong Buy and two Hold ratings producing a consensus “Buy” rating, despite some firms downgrading or maintaining Hold recommendations.
• Astec shares opened at $38.57, near their one-year low, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.94—below the $1.04 consensus estimate—on revenue of $408.1 million. It also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, yielding about 1.3% annually.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 105.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 301,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 154,802 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.31% of Astec Industries worth $12,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 1,128.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 639 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 130.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 55.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 30,243 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 10,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASTE. Wall Street Zen downgraded Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Astec Industries in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE opened at $38.57 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $887.88 million, a PE ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.33. Astec Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $38.06 and a one year high of $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.10). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.26% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $408.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Astec Industries's payout ratio is currently 61.18%.

About Astec Industries

Astec Industries, Inc NASDAQ: ASTE designs, engineers, manufactures and services equipment used in the construction of infrastructure and the processing of aggregates. Its products support road building, asphalt production, concrete production, aggregate processing and related industrial applications.

The company's product portfolio includes asphalt plants and related equipment, concrete plants, crushers, screens, feeders, material-handling systems, thermal-processing equipment and road-building machinery.

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