Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $4.81, but opened at $5.18. Aveanna Healthcare shares last traded at $5.24, with a volume of 54,716 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVAH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $1.70 to $2.80 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.02 and a beta of 2.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.89.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $504.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $494.02 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVAH. Littlejohn & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 7.4% in the first quarter. Littlejohn & Co. LLC now owns 8,377,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,859,000 after acquiring an additional 578,488 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 155.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 158,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 96,600 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 176.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 81,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 51,890 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,402,000 after buying an additional 44,970 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

About Aveanna Healthcare

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.