AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV traded down $16.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $175.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 545,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,227. AeroVironment has a 12-month low of $104.67 and a 12-month high of $224.00. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.12 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.57.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total transaction of $89,621.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,928,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 50.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.