Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 420,400 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the September 30th total of 395,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 140,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Astec Industries by 3.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Astec Industries by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Astec Industries by 5.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the first quarter worth $66,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Astec Industries by 10.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 19,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Price Performance

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $32.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Astec Industries has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $44.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.72 and a 200 day moving average of $32.87. The firm has a market cap of $738.52 million, a PE ratio of -323.90 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -520.00%.

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.