Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.46 EPS

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.46, Zacks reports. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%.

Astec Industries Stock Up 17.9 %

Shares of ASTE stock traded up $5.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $36.75. 138,681 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,637. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.50 and its 200-day moving average is $33.65. The company has a market cap of $837.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -458.82 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Astec Industries has a fifty-two week low of $28.46 and a fifty-two week high of $44.74.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -649.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Astec Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

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.