Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) Short Interest Up 5.0% in April

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, an increase of 5.0% from the March 31st total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 987,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASPN. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded Aspen Aerogels from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Aerogels presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Aerogels

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASPN. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,593 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels during the 4th quarter valued at $191,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,052 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 9,601 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,971 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 3,607 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. 97.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Aerogels Price Performance

NYSE ASPN opened at $15.22 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.42 and its 200 day moving average is $13.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.91. Aspen Aerogels has a 12 month low of $5.32 and a 12 month high of $19.10.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Aspen Aerogels had a negative return on equity of 10.47% and a negative net margin of 19.19%. The company had revenue of $84.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aspen Aerogels will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal 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.