Verus Capital Partners LLC Acquires 2,200 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of ASTE stock opened at $35.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.70. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $44.74. The firm has a market cap of $811.30 million, a P/E ratio of -444.69 and a beta of 1.31.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.46. Astec Industries had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. The firm had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.10 million.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -650.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

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.