John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Purchases 28,378 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,378 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $5,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter worth $64,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASTE. StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $35.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.51 and a 200-day moving average of $33.70. The stock has a market cap of $811.30 million, a PE ratio of -444.69 and a beta of 1.31. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $44.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.47.

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

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -650.00%.

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.