AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $230.91 and last traded at $230.57, with a volume of 7823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $219.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Baird R W upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Alembic Global Advisors raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.20.

AeroVironment Trading Up 3.4 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.23 and a 200-day moving average of $190.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.02 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,581,799.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in AeroVironment by 132.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after purchasing an additional 861,962 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 19,950.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 267,066 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,547,000 after buying an additional 265,734 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,376,000 after buying an additional 179,395 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 108.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,824 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,255,000 after acquiring an additional 94,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 120.6% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $24,884,000 after acquiring an additional 74,672 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.