Insider Selling: Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Insider Sells $59,543.25 in Stock

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) insider Edward Terrell Gilbert, Jr. sold 975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total transaction of $59,543.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $539,125.96. This represents a 9.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE opened at $57.87 on Monday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.65 and a twelve month high of $64.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.48.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.32. Astec Industries had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $400.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.21 million.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.95%.

Institutional Trading of Astec Industries

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $10,096,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Astec Industries by 142.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,042,000 after acquiring an additional 203,911 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Astec Industries by 49.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 539,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,510,000 after acquiring an additional 178,545 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC increased its stake in Astec Industries by 48.3% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 501,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,113,000 after acquiring an additional 163,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Astec Industries by 1,800.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 142,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,853,000 after purchasing an additional 134,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astec Industries has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.