Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Astronics Corporation's shares experienced a significant decline, opening at $29.00 after closing at $35.37, with a current trading volume of 426,906 shares.
• Recent analyst ratings saw a shift with Truist Financial upgrading Astronics from "hold" to "buy" with a $49.00 price target, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "strong-buy" to "buy."
• Institutional investors appear optimistic, with several firms, including Acadian Asset Management, increasing their stakes in Astronics substantially during the second quarter.

Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.37, but opened at $29.00. Astronics shares last traded at $29.28, with a volume of 426,906 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ATRO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Astronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Astronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th.

Astronics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -262.48 and a beta of 1.64.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. Astronics had a negative net margin of 0.45% and a positive return on equity of 22.89%. The business had revenue of $204.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208.29 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Astronics Corporation will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Astronics by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,601,632 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $38,711,000 after acquiring an additional 27,025 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Astronics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 998,506 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $15,936,000 after purchasing an additional 58,149 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astronics by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 881,504 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $14,069,000 after acquiring an additional 325,904 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astronics by 80.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 746,956 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $18,054,000 after acquiring an additional 332,133 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Astronics by 3.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 736,327 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $24,655,000 after acquiring an additional 22,134 shares during the period. 56.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Astronics

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products.