AeroVironment’s (AVAV) Outperform Rating Reiterated at William Blair

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at William Blair in a research note issued on Wednesday,RTT News reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on AVAV. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $220.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AeroVironment currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.40.

AeroVironment Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of AVAV traded down $7.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,047,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,770. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 77.37 and a beta of 0.52. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $108.40 and a 1 year high of $236.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $164.89 and its 200 day moving average is $184.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.61 and a quick ratio of 3.36.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. AeroVironment’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in AeroVironment by 299.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in AeroVironment by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 333,193 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $51,275,000 after purchasing an additional 32,663 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 136,652 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $21,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the 4th quarter worth about $333,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Company Profile

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.