Littlejohn & Co. LLC Cuts Holdings in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. $AVAH

Key Points

• Littlejohn & Co. LLC cut its Aveanna Healthcare stake by 52.9% in the fourth quarter, though AVAH remains its third-largest holding at about 11.9% of the portfolio.
• Aveanna Healthcare beat first-quarter expectations, reporting EPS of $0.18 versus $0.13 expected and revenue of $647.92 million, up 15.9% year over year.
• Sentiment around the stock is mixed: several analysts recently raised ratings or targets, but insiders sold 19.97 million shares over the last 90 days, including two large June 3 sales.

Littlejohn & Co. LLC lowered its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH - Free Report) by 52.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,797,504 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,140,105 shares during the period. Aveanna Healthcare comprises about 11.9% of Littlejohn & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Littlejohn & Co. LLC owned about 1.34% of Aveanna Healthcare worth $22,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,110,000 after buying an additional 278,429 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $123,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,380 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company's stock.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

NASDAQ AVAH opened at $6.68 on Friday. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.73 and a 12 month high of $10.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.35, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 5.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.93. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $6.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.72.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.05. Aveanna Healthcare had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 124.68%. The business had revenue of $647.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.22 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AVAH shares. Stephens upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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 note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aveanna Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.50.

Insider Activity at Aveanna Healthcare

In related news, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 7,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total transaction of $43,680,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 252,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,089.76. This trade represents a 96.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 7,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.24, for a total transaction of $43,680,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 252,899 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,089.76. This represents a 96.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 19,967,240 shares of company stock worth $124,764,328 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Aveanna Healthcare 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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