Versor Investments LP Takes $400,000 Position in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has acquired 11,616 shares of Astec Industries, valued at approximately $400,000, representing about 0.05% ownership in the company as of the last quarter.
• Astec Industries' stock was recently upgraded from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, while the average analyst rating remains a "Hold" with a target price of $41.00.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.88, surpassing estimates, but fell short on revenue with $330.30 million reported against an expectation of $361.00 million.

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,616 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $400,000. Versor Investments LP owned 0.05% of Astec Industries as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASTE. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 802.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 66.4% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 264.6% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 200.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,213 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Astec Industries presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.51. 184,477 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 209,247. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.04 and a 52 week high of $46.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 26.13%.

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.