Rather & Kittrell Inc. Invests $1.06 Million in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Key Points

• Rather & Kittrell Inc. opened a new position of 24,388 shares in Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE), worth about $1.06 million (roughly 0.11% ownership) in the fourth quarter.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded ASTE recently—three firms now rate it Strong Buy (one Hold), giving the stock a MarketBeat consensus of "Strong Buy."
• Astec beat expectations in the latest quarter with EPS of $1.06 (vs. $0.74 est.) and $400.6M revenue, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.13 (≈0.9% yield) with a market cap near $1.33B.

Rather & Kittrell Inc. bought a new position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 24,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,056,000. Rather & Kittrell Inc. owned about 0.11% of Astec Industries as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 8,994.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 412.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,212 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $136,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $194,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total value of $59,543.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,828 shares in the company, valued at $539,125.96. The trade was a 9.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astec Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Zacks Research raised Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Longbow Research upgraded Astec Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Astec Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Astec Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Astec Industries Stock Up 1.0%

ASTE stock opened at $57.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.48. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.99 and a 12 month high of $64.37. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $400.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.21 million. Astec Industries had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 11.35%. Sell-side analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.95%.

Astec Industries Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec's product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.

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