AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.20.

AVAV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total value of $89,621.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,258,155. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAV. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at $315,000. Creative Planning grew its position in AeroVironment by 203.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,077 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth about $516,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 120.6% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $24,884,000 after buying an additional 74,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 3.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $179.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AeroVironment has a one year low of $104.67 and a one year high of $224.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $179.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 0.50.

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

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.