Short Interest in Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) Grows By 40.3%

Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 277,900 shares, a growth of 40.3% from the March 15th total of 198,100 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 904,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ATER. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $4.00 price target on shares of Aterian in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aterian in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aterian

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Aterian during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aterian during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.02% of the company’s stock.

Aterian Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATER opened at $1.70 on Friday. Aterian has a 1 year low of $1.56 and a 1 year high of $3.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.06 and a 200 day moving average of $2.37. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 million, a P/E ratio of -0.62 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Aterian declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.