Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,920 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Astec Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ ASTE opened at $35.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $800.65 million, a PE ratio of -438.82 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.69 and its 200 day moving average is $34.27. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $44.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $359.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.10 million. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 273.68%.

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.