Next Century Growth Investors LLC Reduces Stake in Astronics Corporation $ATRO

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC reduced its stake in Astronics Corporation by 16.2%, selling 248,629 shares during the first quarter, which leaves them with 1,289,296 shares.
• Astronics received a mix of ratings from analysts, with Truist Financial upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and setting a price target of $49.00, while Zacks Research also raised it to a "strong-buy" rating.
• The company reported $0.38 EPS in its latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, although revenue came in lower than anticipated at $204.68 million.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC lowered its position in shares of Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO - Free Report) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,289,296 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 248,629 shares during the quarter. Astronics makes up about 2.8% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 3.66% of Astronics worth $31,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ATRO. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Astronics by 88.5% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Astronics by 192.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Astronics by 167.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 4,156 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Astronics by 16,616.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,018 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 5,982 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in Astronics in the first quarter valued at about $251,000. Institutional investors own 56.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Astronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised Astronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Astronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Astronics currently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

Astronics Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of ATRO stock traded down $0.52 on Tuesday, hitting $35.85. 186,542 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,044. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -298.75 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.25 and a 200 day moving average of $28.84. Astronics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $14.13 and a fifty-two week high of $38.26.

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

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.