Fair Value Measurements

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

The Company has various financial instruments that must be measured at fair value on a recurring basis, including marketable debt and equity securities held by Astec Insurance Company (“Astec Insurance”), the Company’s captive insurance company; marketable equity securities held in an unqualified Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”); and a money market fund held by a foreign subsidiary. The obligations of the Company associated with the financial assets held in the SERP also constitute a liability of the Company for financial reporting purposes and are included in other long-term liabilities in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company’s subsidiaries also occasionally enter into foreign currency exchange contracts to mitigate exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

The carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, trade receivables and contract assets, other receivables, accounts payable, short-term debt and long-term debt approximates their fair value because of their short-term nature and/or interest rates associated with the instruments. Investments are carried at their fair value based on quoted market prices for identical or similar assets or, where no quoted prices exist, other observable inputs for the asset. The fair values of foreign currency exchange contracts are based on quotations from various banks for similar instruments using models with market based inputs.

Financial assets and liabilities are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. The inputs used to measure the fair value are identified in the following hierarchy:


Level 1 -			Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 -			Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; or unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability.
Level 3 -			Inputs reflect management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. Consideration is given to the risk inherent in the valuation technique and the risk inherent in the inputs to the model.

The Company reevaluates the volume of trading activity for each of its investments at the end of each quarter and adjusts the level within the fair value hierarchy as needed. As indicated in the tables below (which excludes the Company’s pension assets), the Company has determined that all of its financial assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 are Level 1 and Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy as defined above:


	June 30, 2020
(in thousands)	Level 1		Level 2		Total
Financial Assets:
Trading equity securities:
SERP money market fund	$	229	$	—	$	229
SERP mutual funds	4,391		—		4,391
Preferred stocks	268		—		268

Trading debt securities:
Corporate bonds	5,581		—		5,581
Municipal bonds	—		1,147		1,147
Floating rate notes	356		—		356
U.S. government securities	2,078		—		2,078
Asset backed securities	—		2,394		2,394
Other	—		1,362		1,362

Total financial assets	$	12,903	$	4,903	$	17,806

Financial Liabilities:
Derivative financial instruments	$	—	$	365	$	365
SERP liabilities	—		6,708		6,708
Total financial liabilities	$	—	$	7,073	$	7,073


	December 31, 2019
(in thousands)	Level 1		Level 2		Total
Financial Assets:
Trading equity securities:
SERP money market fund	$	208	$	—	$	208
SERP mutual funds	4,419		—		4,419
Preferred stocks	282		—		282

Trading debt securities:
Corporate bonds	5,117		—		5,117
Municipal bonds	—		1,154		1,154
Floating rate notes	535		—		535
U.S. government securities	2,035		—		2,035
Asset backed securities	—		2,316		2,316
Other	473		1,112		1,585
Derivative financial instruments	—		4		4
Total financial assets	$	13,069	$	4,586	$	17,655

Financial Liabilities:
Derivative financial instruments	$	—	$	49	$	49
SERP liabilities	—		6,645		6,645
Total financial liabilities	$	—	$	6,694	$	6,694

The trading equity securities noted above are valued at their fair value based on their quoted market prices, and the trading debt securities are valued based upon a mix of observable market prices and model driven prices derived from a matrix of observable market prices for assets with similar characteristics obtained with the assistance of a nationally recognized third-party pricing service. Additionally, a significant portion of the SERP’s investments in trading equity securities are in money market and mutual funds. As these money market and mutual funds are held in a SERP, they are also included in the Company’s liability under its SERP.

Trading debt securities are comprised of marketable debt securities held by Astec Insurance. Astec Insurance has an investment strategy that focuses on providing regular and predictable interest income from a diversified portfolio of high-quality fixed income securities.

The Company has $103.5 million in a government money market fund at June 30, 2020, which is included in cash and cash equivalents in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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