Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires 31,595 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Key Points

• Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 50.5% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 31,595 shares, bringing its total holdings to 94,133 shares valued at approximately $3.9 million.
• A number of institutional investors, including Peregrine Capital Management LLC and CWM LLC, also made significant increases to their positions in Astec Industries, with institutional ownership now at 93.16%.
• Astec Industries reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.88 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, despite revenues falling short of estimates at $330.3 million.

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 50.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 31,595 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.41% of Astec Industries worth $3,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 138,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,787,000 after acquiring an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Astec Industries by 73.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,422 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 264.6% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 14.6% in the first quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 186,410 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,422,000 after purchasing an additional 23,718 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Barend Snyman sold 2,498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.22, for a total value of $117,955.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,695.98. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.00.

Astec Industries Price Performance

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $47.76 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.57 and a 200-day moving average of $41.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.71. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.65 and a 52-week high of $50.83.

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

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

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

Astec Industries 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.