Aspen Aerogels Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ASPN)

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 5,084 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the average daily volume of 3,572 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Aerogels

In other Aspen Aerogels news, CFO Ricardo C. Rodriguez sold 32,465 shares of Aspen Aerogels stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.14, for a total transaction of $978,495.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,610.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cim LLC purchased a new position in Aspen Aerogels during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $386,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,266,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 57.8% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 79,757 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 29,223 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 130.4% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,724 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Aspen Aerogels by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,003 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 6,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Performance

Shares of ASPN opened at $23.77 on Friday. Aspen Aerogels has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $33.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of -54.02 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 3.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.70.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The construction company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $117.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.99 million. Aspen Aerogels had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 0.74%. The company’s revenue was up 144.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aspen Aerogels will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ASPN shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Aspen Aerogels in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Aerogels presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.70.

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.