ProShare Advisors LLC Makes New $231,000 Investment in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,871 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,273,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,805,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 669,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $22,488,000 after purchasing an additional 35,690 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,847,000 after purchasing an additional 34,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 245,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Astec Industries Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ ASTE traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $39.74. 75,469 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,554. The company has a market cap of $908.73 million, a PE ratio of -496.69 and a beta of 1.40. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $42.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.82 and a 200-day moving average of $35.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.40 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. Astec Industries's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 78.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASTE. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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.

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.