AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $225.20.

AVAV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $157.66 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.36 and its 200 day moving average is $189.51. AeroVironment has a one year low of $116.51 and a one year high of $236.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.61 and a beta of 0.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total transaction of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 38,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 299.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 39.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,451 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in AeroVironment by 149.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,245 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,477,000 after purchasing an additional 34,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.