AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• AeroVironment, Inc. has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from 17 brokerages, with 14 issuing a buy recommendation and 3 a strong buy recommendation.
• The company's earnings for the last quarter were $1.61 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.41, alongside a significant revenue increase of 39.6% year-over-year.
• Despite a recent 1.2% decline in trading, AeroVironment maintains a market cap of $13.06 billion and a robust current ratio of 3.52.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $283.5455.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVAV. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Sunday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 target price on the stock.

AeroVironment Trading Down 1.2%

AVAV opened at $264.75 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $231.77 and its 200-day moving average is $178.98. AeroVironment has a 1-year low of $102.25 and a 1-year high of $295.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 170.81 and a beta of 0.99.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. AeroVironment had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $275.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total value of $4,550,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 415.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 198,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $30,620,000 after acquiring an additional 160,390 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,873 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,898 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 654,024 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $100,670,000 after acquiring an additional 19,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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