Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.21, but opened at $7.53. Aspen Aerogels shares last traded at $7.65, with a volume of 525,972 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASPN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered shares of Aspen Aerogels from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $7.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Aspen Aerogels Trading Up 7.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 3.31. The stock has a market cap of $638.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.04 and a beta of 2.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.44.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. Aspen Aerogels had a negative net margin of 78.53% and a positive return on equity of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $78.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Aspen Aerogels has set its FY 2025 guidance at -3.860–3.730 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Santhosh P. Daniel sold 4,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.31, for a total transaction of $32,237.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 19,879 shares in the company, valued at $145,315.49. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Aerogels

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASPN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 1,094.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4,390 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,343 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 184.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,235 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 4,693 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Aspen Aerogels in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Aspen Aerogels in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

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.