Short Interest in Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) Drops By 36.9%

Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 237,200 shares, a decline of 36.9% from the May 15th total of 376,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 941,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATER. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $4.00 target price on Aterian in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Alliance Global Partners lowered Aterian from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Aterian Stock Down 3.1%

Aterian stock opened at $1.24 on Monday. Aterian has a twelve month low of $1.22 and a twelve month high of $3.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.85 million, a P/E ratio of -0.45 and a beta of 0.37.

Aterian (NASDAQ:ATER) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.52) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.17. Aterian had a negative return on equity of 56.01% and a negative net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.95 million.

Aterian announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Aterian

In other Aterian news, insider Phillip Lepper sold 27,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.65, for a total transaction of $45,427.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 150,402 shares in the company, valued at $248,163.30. This represents a 15.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 74,710 shares of company stock worth $108,014. Company insiders own 10.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aterian

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aterian during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aterian by 73.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 9,026 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aterian during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aterian by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 45,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.02% of the company’s stock.

Aterian Company Profile

Aterian, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology-enabled consumer products company in North America and internationally. Its platform offers home and kitchen appliances; kitchenware; cooling and air quality appliances, such as dehumidifiers; health and beauty products; and essential oils under the Squatty Potty, hOmeLabs, Mueller, Pursteam, Healing Solutions, and Photo Paper Direct brand names.