Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) Shares Down 4.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO)’s share price traded down 4.9% during trading on Wednesday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as low as $51.34 and last traded at $50.6140. 65,050 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 594,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.24.

Several other research firms have also commented on ATRO. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Astronics from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Astronics in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Astronics in a research note on Friday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Astronics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Astronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James Mulato sold 1,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.16, for a total transaction of $43,082.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,678.56. This represents a 51.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATRO. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Astronics by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 55,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 20,136 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Astronics by 28.1% during the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 22,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,907 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Astronics by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,601,632 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,711,000 after acquiring an additional 27,025 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Astronics by 5.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,347 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Astronics by 93.6% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 94,102 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 45,484 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.68% of the company’s stock.

Astronics Trading Down 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of -569.77 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.61.

Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.07. Astronics had a negative net margin of 0.37% and a positive return on equity of 29.65%. The firm had revenue of $211.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.80 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Astronics Corporation will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.