AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Given "Strong-Buy" Rating at Raymond James Financial

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating reaffirmed by Raymond James Financial in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $225.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock, up from their prior price target of $200.00. Raymond James Financial's target price would indicate a potential downside of 5.45% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.57.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AVAV traded up $44.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.97. 4,324,398 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,601. AeroVironment has a one year low of $102.25 and a one year high of $249.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.21 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.98. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 6.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 45,272 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,589 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth about $404,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 160,390 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in AeroVironment by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 217,806 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $33,518,000 after buying an additional 84,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,502,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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