Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $2.91 Million in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 244,854 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,909,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.30% of Aspen Aerogels at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capula Management Ltd bought a new position in Aspen Aerogels in the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 472.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 766,400 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,105,000 after acquiring an additional 632,500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,871 shares of the construction company's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Aspen Aerogels by 654.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 25,237 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 21,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,262 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 25,620 shares during the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ASPN shares. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Aspen Aerogels from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised Aspen Aerogels to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Aspen Aerogels from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aspen Aerogels to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Aerogels currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.11.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Performance

Shares of ASPN stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,200,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,163. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.80 and a 1-year high of $33.15. The firm has a market cap of $454.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60 and a beta of 2.35. The business's fifty day moving average is $6.38 and its 200-day moving average is $11.41.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.11. Aspen Aerogels had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 7.49%. On average, research analysts forecast that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerogel insulation products primarily for use in the energy infrastructure and sustainable insulation materials markets in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Energy Industrial and Thermal Barrier.