Short Interest in AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Drops By 66.1%

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,500 shares, a drop of 66.1% from the December 31st total of 25,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstroNova

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 23.6% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 68,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC bought a new stake in AstroNova in the 4th quarter valued at $1,536,000. 43.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AstroNova Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALOT traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.56. 973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,169. The company has a market cap of $87.05 million, a P/E ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.83. AstroNova has a twelve month low of $11.00 and a twelve month high of $18.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $13.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.91.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on AstroNova in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock.

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).