Brokerages Set AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) PT at $225.20

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $225.20.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total value of $110,058.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,868 shares in the company, valued at $3,654,452.20. The trade was a 2.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth about $838,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 29.6% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,965,000 after purchasing an additional 6,219 shares in the last quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,326,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth $243,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at $330,000. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $155.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.18 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $116.51 and a 52-week high of $236.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.36 and a 200-day moving average of $189.31.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. AeroVironment’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.