Rather & Kittrell Inc. Sells 14,208 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Rather & Kittrell Inc. reduced its stake in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,208 shares during the period. Rather & Kittrell Inc. owned 0.11% of Astec Industries worth $907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASTE. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth about $123,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in Astec Industries by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 4,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

ASTE traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.64. The company had a trading volume of 89,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,876. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.53. 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 12-month low of $28.97 and a 12-month high of $56.33. The stock has a market cap of $969.63 million, a PE ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 1.38.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $337.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.33 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 2.50%. Astec Industries’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th.

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.