AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

AstroNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,400 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the March 15th total of 18,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Stephen M. Petrarca sold 5,000 shares of AstroNova stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.79, for a total transaction of $88,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 27,784 shares in the company, valued at $494,277.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AstroNova

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of AstroNova by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 56,879 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 7,957 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AstroNova by 3.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 346,401 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 13,111 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in AstroNova by 36.6% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,019 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,219 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AstroNova by 0.3% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 43.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AstroNova Stock Down 0.8 %

ALOT traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.30. The company had a trading volume of 6,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 0.89. AstroNova has a 1-year low of $11.79 and a 1-year high of $18.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.50 and a 200-day moving average of $15.72. The company has a market cap of $128.54 million, a PE ratio of 27.90 and a beta of 0.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on AstroNova in a report on Monday, January 15th. They set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock.

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).