AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Earns “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

BTIG Research reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $245.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVAV. Raymond James cut shares of AeroVironment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $179.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.67 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.21. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $104.67 and a 12 month high of $224.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total value of $77,703.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $77,703.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock worth $1,928,305. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $61,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.