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

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $208.20.

AVAV has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

AeroVironment Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $227.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $203.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 106.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $116.51 and a 52-week high of $232.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,658,343.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $372,615 in the last three months. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $854,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares during the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $924,000. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 53.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.