Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Short Interest Update

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 438,900 shares, an increase of 17.0% from the August 15th total of 375,100 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 153,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Astec Industries Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $31.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.21. Astec Industries has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $50.37. The company has a market capitalization of $723.24 million, a P/E ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Astec Industries by 100.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,165,000 after acquiring an additional 105,280 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 190.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 43,211 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 251.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,217,000 after purchasing an additional 68,991 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Astec Industries by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 175,738 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,212,000 after purchasing an additional 51,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Company 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.