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

Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in 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 shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 894,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of Aterian

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATER. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aterian during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Aterian during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Aterian by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 45,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.02% of the company’s stock.

Aterian Stock Performance

Aterian stock opened at $2.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.38 million, a PE ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 2.03. Aterian has a twelve month low of $1.86 and a twelve month high of $3.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.50.

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

Aterian declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Aterian

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.