Peregrine Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE - Free Report) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 33,218 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned 0.50% of Astec Industries worth $4,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth about $29,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Astec Industries by 157.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter worth about $51,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Astec Industries by 336.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 156.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASTE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 2.5 %

ASTE traded down $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.49. 62,539 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,839. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.41. Astec Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.97 and a fifty-two week high of $56.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $966.22 million, a PE ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $332.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Astec Industries's payout ratio is presently 35.37%.

Astec Industries Profile

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.