AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Up 4.3% on Analyst Upgrade

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) shot up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Raymond James Financial upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to a market perform rating. The company traded as high as $211.50 and last traded at $206.27. 1,729,133 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 1,967,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.72.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $389.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $390.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on AeroVironment from $259.00 to $236.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $330.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AeroVironment from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $53,130.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,573,082.52. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.55, for a total value of $88,921.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,026 shares in the company, valued at $3,598,638.30. This trade represents a 2.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 4,924 shares of company stock valued at $1,486,038 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the 3rd quarter worth $314,890,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 14.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $991,089,000 after acquiring an additional 433,830 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter valued at $94,655,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 24,798.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 315,716 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $99,416,000 after purchasing an additional 314,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 75.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,019 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $173,540,000 after purchasing an additional 262,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 4.54. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.53, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $269.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.46.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $408.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.94 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 13.93% and a positive return on equity of 3.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 143.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.