AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Rating Reiterated by BTIG Research

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

AVAV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $208.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AVAV opened at $182.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.32 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.23. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $104.67 and a 1 year high of $224.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current 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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,581,799.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,254 shares in the company, valued at $3,581,799.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,928,305. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in AeroVironment by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 861,962 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 350,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,760,000 after buying an additional 28,288 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,932,000 after buying an additional 5,652 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,949,000 after buying an additional 144,628 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.