Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 1,476,802 Shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. $ASPN

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) by 83.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 289,931 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,476,802 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Aerogels were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Gagnon Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,243,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Aspen Aerogels during the second quarter valued at $484,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 98.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 133,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 66,427 shares during the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 43.5% in the 2nd quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 610,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 185,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aspen Aerogels during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,348,000. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Aerogels Price Performance

NYSE:ASPN opened at $3.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.88 and a beta of 2.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.54. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.80 and a 1 year high of $12.71.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $73.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.42 million. Aspen Aerogels had a negative net margin of 86.52% and a negative return on equity of 0.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 37.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aspen Aerogels news, CEO Donald R. Young sold 56,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.23, for a total transaction of $183,609.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 494,011 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,655.53. The trade was a 10.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ASPN. Barclays decreased their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a report on Monday, December 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.67.

About Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels, Inc, headquartered in Northborough, Massachusetts, develops and manufactures high-performance aerogel insulation materials and custom engineered solutions. Founded in 2001 as a spin-out from Department of Energy research, the company pursued an initial public offering on the NYSE in 2014 under the ticker ASPN. Aspen Aerogels combines proprietary aerogel formulations with advanced manufacturing processes to deliver products known for their low thermal conductivity, lightweight construction and robust mechanical properties.

The company’s product portfolio spans blanket insulation, boards, and custom shapes built around several proprietary brands, including Pyrogel, Cryogel and Spaceloft.