AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,300 shares, an increase of 80.0% from the December 31st total of 8,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on AstroNova in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

AstroNova Trading Up 0.8 %

AstroNova stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.60. The company had a trading volume of 4,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,734. The firm has a market cap of $87.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 0.67. AstroNova has a 12-month low of $11.00 and a 12-month high of $18.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.91.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The business services provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter. AstroNova had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 5.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstroNova

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALOT. Peapod Lane Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AstroNova in the fourth quarter worth $1,536,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 10.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 6,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 23.6% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 43.02% of the company’s stock.

AstroNova Company Profile

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).