BTIG Research Initiates Coverage on AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)

BTIG Research started coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $255.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AVAV. Robert W. Baird reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $161.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $175.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.4 %

AVAV stock opened at $182.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $190.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.38. AeroVironment has a fifty-two week low of $91.00 and a fifty-two week high of $224.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.48 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 29.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in AeroVironment by 5.4% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 61,201 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,826,000 after buying an additional 3,136 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 492,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $54,958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 6.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 232,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,940,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 280,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $31,247,000 after acquiring an additional 8,666 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.