Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $2.91 Million in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 244,854 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,909,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abbot Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 30,255 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Aspen Aerogels by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,418 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in Aspen Aerogels by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 36,938 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 128,800 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. B. Riley lowered their target price on Aspen Aerogels from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Aspen Aerogels to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Aspen Aerogels from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.11.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Performance

NYSE ASPN opened at $5.57 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.50. The company has a market capitalization of $457.32 million, a P/E ratio of 34.81 and a beta of 2.35. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.80 and a 1-year high of $33.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.48.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.11. Aspen Aerogels had a return on equity of 7.49% and a net margin of 2.95%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.