Short Interest in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) Decreases By 10.2%

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) saw a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 431,100 shares, a decline of 10.2% from the June 30th total of 480,100 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 178,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Astec Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ASTE traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.84. 38,058 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,196. The stock has a market capitalization of $792.96 million, a P/E ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.54 and a 200 day moving average of $35.96. Astec Industries has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $56.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity at Astec Industries

In other news, insider Michael Paul Norris acquired 1,000 shares of Astec Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.46 per share, with a total value of $33,460.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at $531,545.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 175,738 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,212,000 after purchasing an additional 51,141 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $231,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Astec Industries by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Astec Industries by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 24,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 4,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Astec Industries by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 86,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 21,016 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

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.