Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 41,153 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lessened its holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 403,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,153 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $13,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Astec Industries by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 27,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 3,480 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Astec Industries in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 6,015 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Astec Industries by 184.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 181,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,108,000 after acquiring an additional 117,858 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 6,355 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTE has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on 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 Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $36.36 on Wednesday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -454.44 and a beta of 1.32.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is currently 273.68%.

Astec Industries 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.