AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Rating Reiterated by BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $245.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $216.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James lowered shares of AeroVironment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AVAV stock opened at $179.69 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.21. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $104.67 and a 52-week high of $224.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its 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. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $91,187.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,807,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,928,305 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 132.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $275,367,000 after purchasing an additional 861,962 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,376,000 after buying an additional 179,395 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,949,000 after buying an additional 144,628 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 756.3% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 102,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,876,000 after buying an additional 90,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 4th quarter worth about $9,784,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently 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.