Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 6.6% in the first quarter, owning approximately 1.23% of the company worth $9.73 million.
• Astec Industries reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.88, which exceeded analysts' expectations of $0.60, but revenue fell short of estimates at $330.3 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, set to be paid on August 29th to stockholders recorded by August 11th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 282,394 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 17,444 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.23% of Astec Industries worth $9,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASTE. Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 27.1% in the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 234,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,089,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth $1,552,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 691.9% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 48,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 42,682 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 3,771.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,786 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,080,000 after purchasing an additional 42,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 669,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,488,000 after purchasing an additional 35,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $46.29. The stock had a trading volume of 290,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,319. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.04 and a 12-month high of $47.94. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $41.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.46. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 1.39.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $330.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $361.00 million.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.