AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.20.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

AeroVironment Stock Up 0.7 %

AVAV opened at $170.13 on Tuesday. AeroVironment has a 1-year low of $91.00 and a 1-year high of $224.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.56, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 76.64 and a beta of 0.51.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $197.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 90,946 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,463,000 after buying an additional 56,062 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 322,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,641,000 after buying an additional 17,985 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 26.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 77,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after buying an additional 16,107 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,717 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after buying an additional 7,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,813 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AeroVironment Company Profile

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.