Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Barclays

Barclays reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has a $7.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $13.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ASPN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aspen Aerogels to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Aspen Aerogels from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Craig Hallum cut their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.44.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Performance

Shares of ASPN stock opened at $5.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.93. Aspen Aerogels has a one year low of $4.16 and a one year high of $33.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28 and a beta of 2.72.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The construction company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Aspen Aerogels had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The firm had revenue of $78.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Aspen Aerogels’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Aspen Aerogels will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Aerogels

In related news, CEO Donald R. Young acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.35 per share, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 550,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,947,079.60. The trade was a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASPN. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 333.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 92,302 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 71,024 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 13,796 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Aerogels during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 36,938 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 371,049 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after acquiring an additional 47,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

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.