Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday.

Astec Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTE traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $32.38. 459,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 161,951. The company has a market cap of $736.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 1.40. Astec Industries has a 1 year low of $28.97 and a 1 year high of $56.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). Astec Industries had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $309.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Astec Industries will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Astec Industries by 41,600.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter valued at $98,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.