Piper Jaffray Upgrades Astec Industries (ASTE) to Neutral

April 22, 2009 7:45 AM EDT

Piper Jaffray & Co. upgrades Astec Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTE) from Sell to Neutral. Price target increased from $22 to $26.

Piper analyst says, "Upgrading ASTE to Neutral as indications of increased state-level road construction activity, fueled by the federal stimulus, are providing investors with the comfort to look past near-term fundamental uncertainty. It remains unclear to what extent early road construction project letting will spur significant demand for new construction equipment, though it appears to be providing some stability - or at least less negative declines."

"We are reducing our FY09 EPS estimate to $1.60, which incorporates 220 bps of gross margin contraction (lower fixed cost absorption outweighing lower input costs) and 50 bps of SG&A de-leverage. We continue to forecast a return to growth domestically in 4Q09 and a full year of growth in FY10 as the stimulus funds spur additional construction activity."

To see more analyst ratings on ASTE Click Here.
Astec Industries, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures and markets equipment and components used primarily in road building, utility and related construction activities.

Related Categories

Upgrades

Stocks Mentioned

Related Entities

• Piper Jaffray

Add Your Comment

Name

Subject

Body

Verification can't see the text?
click here to refresh the image.
what's this?