Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Aveanna Healthcare received a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 12 firms, with an average 12-month price target of $10.50.
• The company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, posting EPS of $0.18 versus $0.13 expected and revenue of $647.92 million, up 15.9% year over year.
• There was notable insider selling, including two major shareholders who each sold 7 million shares, and insiders have sold nearly 20 million shares over the past three months.

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Aveanna Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $9.50 to $9.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

AVAH stock opened at $7.52 on Wednesday. Aveanna Healthcare has a one year low of $3.73 and a one year high of $10.32. The company's fifty day moving average price is $6.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.35, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 6.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.93.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.05. Aveanna Healthcare had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 124.68%. The firm had revenue of $647.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $613.22 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aveanna Healthcare will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 7,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total value of $43,680,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 252,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,578,089.76. This represents a 96.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 7,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total transaction of $43,680,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 252,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,578,089.76. This trade represents a 96.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,967,240 shares of company stock worth $124,764,328. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aveanna Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Aveanna Healthcare by 425.8% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 163,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 132,779 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 64.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 402,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,592,000 after buying an additional 157,368 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 34.3% during the first quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 263,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 67,393 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 22.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 56.3% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 13,155 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aveanna Healthcare Company Profile

Aveanna Healthcare, Inc NASDAQ: AVAH is a national provider of in-home health care services, specializing in pediatric skilled nursing, therapy, and related support for medically complex and chronically ill children. The company delivers a range of clinical and therapeutic solutions designed to enable patients to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for hospital stays and long-term institutional care. Aveanna's offerings include registered nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, behavioral health counseling, and durable medical equipment coordination.

In addition to pediatric home health services, Aveanna operates adult home health and personal care support programs, assisting elderly and disabled adults with daily living activities, medication management, and rehabilitation therapies.

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