D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $3.44 Million Stock Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,557 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Astec Industries worth $3,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 802.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Astec Industries Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $42.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $960.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -524.93 and a beta of 1.40. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $42.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.31.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $329.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.40 million. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.79%.

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.