Short Interest in Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) Decreases By 17.5%

Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 198,100 shares, a decline of 17.5% from the February 28th total of 240,200 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 894,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aterian

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Aterian by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 45,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aterian in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Aterian during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 7.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATER. Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Aterian in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Aterian in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

Aterian Trading Down 8.7 %

ATER stock opened at $2.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $2.19 and a 200-day moving average of $2.50. The company has a market cap of $18.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 2.03. Aterian has a 12-month low of $1.86 and a 12-month high of $3.95.

Aterian (NASDAQ:ATER) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.58) by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $24.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.48 million. Aterian had a negative return on equity of 56.01% and a negative net margin of 17.05%.

Aterian announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.