Heartland Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. by 27.1%, bringing its total ownership to approximately 234,800 shares, valued at $8,089,000.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating growing confidence in the company's prospects.
• Astec Industries reported earnings of $0.88 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.46, and its revenue increased by 6.5% year-over-year.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 27.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 1.03% of Astec Industries worth $8,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 184.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,108,000 after purchasing an additional 117,858 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth $3,612,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth $1,552,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 101,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,403,000 after purchasing an additional 44,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $40.39. The company had a trading volume of 22,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 164,454. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.04 and a 1 year high of $43.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $923.60 million, a PE ratio of 61.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.88.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.42. Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $329.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $320.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. Astec Industries's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 78.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.