AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Now Covered by Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Citizens Jmp has initiated coverage of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) with an "outperform" rating and a price target of $325.00, indicating a potential upside of nearly 25% from its current price.
• AeroVironment reported strong quarterly earnings of $1.61 earnings per share, exceeding expectations and showcasing a revenue increase of 39.6% year-over-year.
• There is a general positive sentiment around AeroVironment, with a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts and a consensus target price of approximately $283.55.

Equities research analysts at Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a "mkt outperform" rating and a $325.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock. Citizens Jmp's target price indicates a potential upside of 21.17% from the company's previous close.

AVAV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research boosted their price target on AeroVironment from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AeroVironment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $283.55.

AeroVironment Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $268.22 on Monday. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $102.25 and a 1 year high of $295.90. The stock has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a PE ratio of 171.40 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $228.06 and its 200-day moving average is $177.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.52.

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

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In related news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at $32,153,390.65. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 237 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 117 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 9,273 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 296.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 99 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 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.