Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,506,781 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 44,669 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 6.61% of Astec Industries worth $51,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,273,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,805,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 669,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,488,000 after acquiring an additional 35,690 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 263,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,847,000 after acquiring an additional 34,039 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 219,528 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Astec Industries Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Astec Industries stock traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.12. The company had a trading volume of 148,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,992. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $894.67 million, a P/E ratio of 59.27 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.34 and a 200 day moving average of $36.60. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.04 and a 52-week high of $43.35.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.42. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 1.15%. The business had revenue of $329.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.40 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.33%. Astec Industries's payout ratio is 78.79%.

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.