AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Up 9.3% – Should You Buy?

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s stock price shot up 9.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $136.69 and last traded at $137.6920. Approximately 744,524 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 1,647,001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVAV. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $248.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on AeroVironment from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on AeroVironment from $280.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.81.

AeroVironment Stock Down 6.5%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of -53.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.36.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.37. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 5.77% and a positive return on equity of 4.04%. The firm had revenue of $480.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Page sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total transaction of $38,067.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 48,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,347,484.31. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total value of $41,381.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,592,271.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 805 shares of company stock valued at $142,671. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies uncrewed aircraft systems, loitering munitions, counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems, space systems and related autonomous technologies. Its products are designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision strike, tactical communications and other defense and security missions.

The company’s portfolio includes the Raven, Puma and Quantix unmanned aircraft systems; the JUMP 20 vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft; and the Switchblade family of loitering munitions.