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

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of 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 daily trading volume, of 178,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ASTE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $47.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Astec Industries

In other Astec Industries news, insider Michael Paul Norris bought 1,000 shares of Astec Industries stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.46 per share, for a total transaction of $33,460.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 15,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,545.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 100.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 209,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,165,000 after purchasing an additional 105,280 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,131,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,083,000 after purchasing an additional 86,969 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 251.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,217,000 after purchasing an additional 68,991 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 222,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,268,000 after purchasing an additional 57,836 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Astec Industries by 190.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 43,211 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Astec Industries Trading Down 1.5 %

ASTE stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.72. The company had a trading volume of 111,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $790.23 million, a PE ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.52 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $309.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $343.27 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 1.91%. Astec Industries’s revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share.

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.