Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 75.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,672 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 70,009 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.10% of Astec Industries worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASTE. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 65,426.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 473,756 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,319,000 after purchasing an additional 473,033 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,777,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,262,000 after buying an additional 354,483 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,107,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,297,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Astec Industries by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,042,268 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $173,816,000 after buying an additional 178,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company's stock.

Astec Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.45. 118,663 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 122,288. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.97 and a 52 week high of $56.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50 day moving average price is $38.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.79.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.28. Astec Industries had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $337.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Astec Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th.

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.