AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Short Interest Up 96.7% in April

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 15,355 shares, a growth of 96.7% from the March 31st total of 7,808 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 70,987 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of AstroNova in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

AstroNova Price Performance

Shares of ALOT opened at $14.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $108.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.64 and a beta of 0.65. AstroNova has a twelve month low of $6.96 and a twelve month high of $14.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.24.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $37.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.19 million. AstroNova had a negative net margin of 1.58% and a positive return on equity of 1.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AstroNova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALOT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 74,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstroNova during the second quarter worth $140,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 10.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 140,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 12,992 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 352,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,606,000 after buying an additional 9,533 shares during the period. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 6.1% during the third quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 130,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 7,517 shares during the period. 43.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AstroNova

AstroNova, Inc is a global provider of precision graphic communications equipment and identification solutions. The company operates two primary business segments: the NovaTech division, which designs and manufactures high‐speed data acquisition, recording and analysis systems for industrial, power generation, oil and gas, aerospace and defense markets; and the AstroNova division, which offers digital color label printing and packaging solutions under brands such as QuickLabel and RTag. These products are engineered to support mission‐critical applications that require reliable data capture or product identification across complex supply chains.

Headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island, AstroNova traces its heritage to the development of ruggedized oscillographs and recording instruments for industrial clients.