Short Interest in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Drops By 8.7%

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 395,400 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the September 15th total of 433,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 146,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 32.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Astec Industries by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,424 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 9,039 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTE opened at $31.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Astec Industries has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $46.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.72. The company has a market capitalization of $725.52 million, a P/E ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 1.27.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $345.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.35 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.18% and a positive return on equity of 6.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.71%.

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.