Short Interest in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) Rises By 16.3%

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 16.3% from the September 15th total of 997,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 358,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare by 185.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 29,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 19,096 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,402,000 after purchasing an additional 44,970 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 155.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 158,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 96,600 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Aveanna Healthcare by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare by 35.9% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 12,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

Aveanna Healthcare stock opened at $5.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.82 and a beta of 2.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.12 and a 200-day moving average of $3.61. Aveanna Healthcare has a one year low of $0.85 and a one year high of $5.95.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $504.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $494.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aveanna Healthcare will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AVAH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $1.70 to $2.80 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Aveanna Healthcare Company Profile

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.