AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $227.18 and last traded at $222.40, with a volume of 54371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James cut AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.20.

AeroVironment Price Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.73 and a beta of 0.50.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total value of $89,621.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,155. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,787 shares of company stock worth $352,178. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter worth $26,000. Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at about $61,000. 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.