Littlejohn & Co. LLC Sells 3,140,105 Shares of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. $AVAH

Littlejohn & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) by 52.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,797,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,140,105 shares during the quarter. Aveanna Healthcare accounts for about 11.9% of Littlejohn & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Littlejohn & Co. LLC’s holdings in Aveanna Healthcare were worth $22,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the third quarter worth $15,743,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,577,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535,351 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the third quarter worth $7,922,000. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 120.1% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,022,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,070,000 after purchasing an additional 557,898 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the third quarter worth $2,854,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 7,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total value of $43,680,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 252,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,578,089.76. This trade represents a 96.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 7,000,000 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total value of $43,680,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 252,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,089.76. The trade was a 96.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,967,240 shares of company stock valued at $124,764,328. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVAH. Truist Financial raised their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Aveanna Healthcare from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised Aveanna Healthcare from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aveanna Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Aveanna Healthcare Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVAH opened at $6.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 5.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.35. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.73 and a twelve month high of $10.32.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $647.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.22 million. Aveanna Healthcare had a return on equity of 124.68% and a net margin of 10.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aveanna Healthcare Profile

Aveanna Healthcare, Inc (NASDAQ: AVAH) is a national provider of in-home health care services, specializing in pediatric skilled nursing, therapy, and related support for medically complex and chronically ill children. The company delivers a range of clinical and therapeutic solutions designed to enable patients to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for hospital stays and long-term institutional care. Aveanna’s offerings include registered nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, behavioral health counseling, and durable medical equipment coordination.

In addition to pediatric home health services, Aveanna operates adult home health and personal care support programs, assisting elderly and disabled adults with daily living activities, medication management, and rehabilitation therapies.