Short Interest in Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO) Increases By 26.3%

Astronics Co. (NASDAQ:ATRO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the February 28th total of 1,980,000 shares. Approximately 8.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 434,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Astronics news, Director Robert S. Keane sold 77,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total transaction of $1,892,780.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $155,794.30. This trade represents a 92.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 10.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Astronics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Astronics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Astronics by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,597 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 8,670 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Astronics by 92.7% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 9,956 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Astronics during the third quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Astronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.68% of the company’s stock.

Astronics Price Performance

Astronics stock opened at $24.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.83. Astronics has a one year low of $14.13 and a one year high of $26.63. The company has a market cap of $872.20 million, a P/E ratio of -130.15 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.89.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.27. Astronics had a negative net margin of 0.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $208.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Astronics will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Astronics from $17.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Astronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Astronics Company Profile

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.