AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the June 30th total of 1,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 385,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVAV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $255.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.20.

AeroVironment Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of AVAV traded up $5.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $178.54. 230,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 348,027. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.78. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $91.25 and a 12 month high of $224.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total transaction of $91,187.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 1.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,813 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 327 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in AeroVironment by 0.6% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.