Short Interest in AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Expands By 119.1%

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 49,242 shares, a growth of 119.1% from the July 15th total of 22,476 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 127,420 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

Institutional Trading of AstroNova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 103,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AstroNova during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AstroNova during the 2nd quarter valued at $257,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AstroNova by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 352,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,533 shares during the last quarter. 43.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstroNova Price Performance

NASDAQ:ALOT traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.91. 251,790 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,637. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.73. AstroNova has a 1-year low of $6.96 and a 1-year high of $28.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.68 million, a PE ratio of -160.60 and a beta of 0.85.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 8th. The business services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.14. AstroNova had a negative net margin of 0.88% and a positive return on equity of 2.94%. The company had revenue of $39.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.05) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ALOT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AstroNova in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised AstroNova from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

AstroNova Company Profile

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.