AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $225.20.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AVAV. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,273,480.56. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 4.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 38,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,736,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 299.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,451 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in AeroVironment by 149.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,245 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,477,000 after purchasing an additional 34,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AVAV stock opened at $155.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $192.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.31. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $116.51 and a 52-week high of $236.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.18 and a beta of 0.45.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.