Dean Investment Associates LLC Has $2.19 Million Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 174.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,462 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned about 0.29% of Astec Industries worth $2,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,273,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,805,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Astec Industries by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 875,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,952,000 after acquiring an additional 26,256 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Astec Industries by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 569,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,180,000 after acquiring an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 381,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 245,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Astec Industries Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $34.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $778.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -426.95 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.31. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The firm had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.10 million.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 273.68%.

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.