AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $250.00 and last traded at $234.94, with a volume of 6336975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AVAV. Wall Street Zen upgraded AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on AeroVironment from $230.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush upgraded shares of AeroVironment to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.57.

AeroVironment Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 175.72 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.05 and a 200 day moving average of $158.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 3.07.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,098,822 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $476,878,000 after purchasing an additional 35,543 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in AeroVironment by 48.2% in the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $107,606,000 after purchasing an additional 293,553 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 41.0% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $91,000,000 after purchasing an additional 221,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AeroVironment by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 654,024 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $100,670,000 after buying an additional 19,835 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 456,486 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $54,409,000 after buying an additional 33,169 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is 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.