Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE opened at $35.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $801.49 million, a PE ratio of -439.32 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Astec Industries has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $44.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.49.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The firm had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $312.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Astec Industries’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvey Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 282,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,007,000 after acquiring an additional 142,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 96.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 171,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 84,202 shares in the last quarter. Mill Road Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,467,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Astec Industries by 64.3% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 134,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,290,000 after acquiring an additional 52,571 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Astec Industries by 23.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 215,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,888,000 after purchasing an additional 41,130 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.