AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.20.

AVAV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $161.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $157.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of -36.66 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.43. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $88.24 and a 52-week high of $184.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 4.66.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.30. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $186.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.62 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Trace E. Stevenson sold 1,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $350,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,310. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Melissa Ann Brown sold 1,000 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.77, for a total value of $176,770.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,165.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after purchasing an additional 16,107 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,190,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 6.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 135.5% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 7,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,287,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.