Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR) experienced a significant rise in short interest during the month of August, according to recent reports. As of August 31st, the total short interest reached 4,670,000 shares, marking a 6.6% increase from the previous total of 4,380,000 shares on August 15th. With an average daily trading volume of 630,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio currently stands at 7.4 days.
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALTR shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a price target of $100.00 on Altair Engineering’s shares in a report released on August 2nd. However, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded the company from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating, lowering their price target from $85.00 to $71.00 on the same day. Additionally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Altair Engineering from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating, setting a price target of $95.00 on July 15th. Overall, one analyst has rated the stock as a sell, three as hold, and two as buy. The average rating for Altair Engineering, according to MarketBeat, is “Hold” with an average target price of $90.67.
Institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in Altair Engineering. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in the company during the second quarter, valued at approximately $293,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Altair Engineering by 59.9% during the same period, now owning 26,261 shares worth $2,576,000. Creative Planning also raised its stake by 97.3% in the second quarter, holding 10,648 shares valued at $1,044,000. Furthermore, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Altair Engineering, investing $562,000 during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake by 2.3% during the same period, now holding 21,789 shares worth $2,137,000. Currently, 63.38% of the company’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Altair Engineering’s stock opened at $92.86 on Thursday, with a 52-week low of $57.59 and a 52-week high of $101.39. The company has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,041.89, a P/E/G ratio of 10.94, and a beta of 1.45. Altair Engineering has a fifty-day simple moving average of $89.31 and a two-hundred-day simple moving average of $88.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 3.14, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.
Altair Engineering recently reported its earnings results for the quarter ended August 1st. The software company reported earnings per share of $0.16, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. The company generated revenue of $148.80 million during the quarter, slightly exceeding analysts’ expectations of $146.88 million. Altair Engineering’s return on equity was 6.89%, with a net margin of 4.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased by 5.4% compared to the same period last year. Analysts predict that Altair Engineering will post earnings per share of 0.65 for the current fiscal year.
Altair Engineering Inc., along with its subsidiaries, provides software and cloud solutions in the areas of simulation and design, high-performance computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. The company operates in two segments: Software and Client Engineering Services.