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

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,300 shares, a growth of 80.0% from the December 31st total of 8,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of AstroNova

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $915,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AstroNova by 10.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,309 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 6,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AstroNova in the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,000. 43.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on AstroNova in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company.

AstroNova Price Performance

ALOT stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $11.38. 1,218 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,973. AstroNova has a twelve month low of $11.00 and a twelve 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 market capitalization of $85.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.87.

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

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).