Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) Shares Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) traded down 4.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $13.76 and last traded at $13.80. 251,141 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,602,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ASPN shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Aspen Aerogels from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Aerogels currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.70.

Aspen Aerogels Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.87 and a 200-day moving average of $24.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 1,451.45 and a beta of 2.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Aerogels

In other Aspen Aerogels news, CFO Ricardo C. Rodriguez sold 32,465 shares of Aspen Aerogels stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.14, for a total transaction of $978,495.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,610.60. The trade was a 60.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald R. Young sold 63,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total value of $1,902,550.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 483,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,523,709.20. The trade was a 11.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,050,896 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $112,169,000 after purchasing an additional 773,647 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,619,702 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,707,000 after purchasing an additional 175,906 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 3,300,443 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,088,000 after purchasing an additional 357,895 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 130.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,619,320 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,839,000 after purchasing an additional 300,076 shares during the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Aerogels Company Profile

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.