Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Holdings in Astec Industries, Inc. $ASTE

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its position in Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,102,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 66,400 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Astec Industries were worth $59,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Astec Industries by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 31,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 10,682 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Astec Industries in the first quarter valued at $765,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 19.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 117,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,333,000 after buying an additional 19,147 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Astec Industries during the first quarter worth about $2,976,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 1.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,433,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,176,000 after buying an additional 22,154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Freedom Capital raised Astec Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Astec Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Astec Industries from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Astec Industries Price Performance

Shares of ASTE opened at $56.40 on Friday. Astec Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.88 and a twelve month high of $65.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 50.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $396.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $393.24 million. Astec Industries had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 1.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Astec Industries, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc is a designer and manufacturer of specialized equipment for infrastructure-related markets. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company develops, engineers and produces machinery for asphalt road-building, aggregate processing, concrete production, underground mining, landscaping and utility installation. Astec’s product portfolio includes asphalt plants, portable crushers, conveyors, screening plants, mixers, continuous miners and related support equipment.

Organized into multiple operating segments—Roadbuilding; Aggregate & Mining; Energy; and Pavement Preservation & Maintenance—Astec Industries serves contractors and municipalities that build and maintain transportation, energy and utility networks.