AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Trading Up 4.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• AeroVironment shares rose 4.1% following an upgrade by Goldman Sachs, which increased its price target from $300.00 to $333.00.
• The stock has a consensus Buy rating from analysts, with target prices ranging from $335.00 to $365.00 from various brokerages.
• AeroVironment reported $0.32 earnings per share, falling short of estimates, but showed a 140% year-over-year revenue increase to $454.68 million.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) shares were up 4.1% on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $333.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AeroVironment traded as high as $363.77 and last traded at $360.28. Approximately 1,568,611 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 885,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.08.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AVAV. New Street Research set a $365.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $335.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $267.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AeroVironment from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $333.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 296.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 99 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth about $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 171.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 244 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AeroVironment by 60.3% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 117 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company's stock.

AeroVironment Stock Up 4.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.96. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -562.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $260.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.07.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.67%. The business had revenue of $454.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. AeroVironment's revenue was up 140.0% compared to the same quarter last year. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

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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