AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Rating Lowered by Raymond James

Raymond James lowered shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $179.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 0.50. AeroVironment has a fifty-two week low of $104.67 and a fifty-two week high of $224.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.21.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $91,187.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at $3,807,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAV. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its position in AeroVironment by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 322,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,641,000 after purchasing an additional 17,985 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 119.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after buying an additional 7,470 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,813 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter valued at about $854,000. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), Tactical Missile System (TMS), Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS), and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Systems (HAPS) segments.