Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $38.85 and last traded at $38.8050, with a volume of 36997 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASTE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research raised Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Astec Industries in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $894.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.72, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.10). Astec Industries had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 1.26%.The company had revenue of $408.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $405.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Astec Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Astec Industries’s payout ratio is 61.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astec Industries

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Astec Industries during the second quarter worth $212,732,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the second quarter valued at $6,075,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the second quarter valued at $2,997,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries during the 2nd quarter worth $2,315,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Astec Industries in the 1st quarter worth about $2,976,000. 93.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTE) designs, engineers, manufactures and services equipment used in the construction of infrastructure and the processing of aggregates. Its products support road building, asphalt production, concrete production, aggregate processing and related industrial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants and related equipment, concrete plants, crushers, screens, feeders, material-handling systems, thermal-processing equipment and road-building machinery.