AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Short Interest Down 28.2% in May

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, a decrease of 28.2% from the May 15th total of 12,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell I. Quain bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.05 per share, for a total transaction of $90,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 97,719 shares in the company, valued at $884,356.95. This trade represents a 11.40% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard S. Warzala bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.07 per share, with a total value of $161,400.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 60,385 shares in the company, valued at $487,306.95. This trade represents a 49.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AstroNova

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALOT. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AstroNova by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,544 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 15,544 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AstroNova by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 70,535 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in AstroNova by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 65,359 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 8,314 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AstroNova by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 39,274 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mink Brook Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AstroNova during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,507,000. 43.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen began coverage on AstroNova in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company.

AstroNova Stock Down 2.2%

ALOT stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $9.01. 7,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,205. AstroNova has a one year low of $7.53 and a one year high of $17.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $68.48 million, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.55.

AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The business services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $37.71 million for the quarter. AstroNova had a positive return on equity of 2.21% and a negative net margin of 10.28%.

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).