AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Short Interest Up 9.3% in October

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,700 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the October 15th total of 10,700 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of AstroNova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstroNova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AstroNova by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 55,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 14,843 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 543,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,251,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 0.3% during the first quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 496,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,950,000 after buying an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of AstroNova by 1.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 106,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AstroNova by 3.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 74,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 2,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.22% of the company’s stock.

AstroNova Stock Performance

Shares of ALOT opened at $13.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.08. AstroNova has a 52-week low of $11.10 and a 52-week high of $17.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $100.17 million, a PE ratio of 122.73 and a beta of 0.60.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 6th. The business services provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $35.52 million during the quarter. AstroNova had a return on equity of 4.92% and a net margin of 0.59%.

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).