StockNews.com Downgrades AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) to Buy

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

AstroNova Price Performance

AstroNova stock opened at $14.14 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.37 and its 200 day moving average is $14.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $106.35 million, a P/E ratio of 28.28 and a beta of 0.61. AstroNova has a one year low of $11.82 and a one year high of $18.83.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The business services provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter. AstroNova had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 4.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstroNova

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALOT. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in AstroNova by 23.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 68,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AstroNova by 10.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 6,592 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AstroNova by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 349,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,229,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 43.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AstroNova

AstroNova, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes specialty printers, and data acquisition and analysis systems in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, Central and South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Product Identification (PI) and Test & Measurement (T&M).