AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 848,900 shares, an increase of 14.0% from the March 31st total of 744,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 357,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in AeroVironment by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,813 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its stake in AeroVironment by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 327 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in AeroVironment by 0.6% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVAV. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on AeroVironment from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV traded down $1.03 on Wednesday, hitting $158.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 87,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,649. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.64. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $88.24 and a 1 year high of $184.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of -37.07 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.66 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $186.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. AeroVironment’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.