Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 41,920 Shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 39.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,920 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.29% of Astec Industries worth $2,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the 4th quarter valued at $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 stake in shares of Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Astec Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ASTE. StockNews.com raised shares of Astec Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Astec Industries from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Astec Industries Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Astec Industries stock opened at $35.11 on Thursday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $44.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.27. The firm has a market cap of $800.65 million, a PE ratio of -438.82 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $359.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.13 dividend. 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 presently 273.68%.

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.