AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Here’s Why

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s share price traded up 3.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $159.50 and last traded at $161.0920. Approximately 142,665 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 1,682,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVAV has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on AeroVironment from $225.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of AeroVironment to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $180.00 in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.89.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.2%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.07. The company has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 4.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.37. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.04% and a negative net margin of 5.77%.The company had revenue of $480.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total transaction of $41,381.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,592,271.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen Page sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total transaction of $38,067.50. Following the sale, the director owned 48,253 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,484.31. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 805 shares of company stock valued at $142,671 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter worth about $574,566,000. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,745,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,549,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,655,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,901,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and produces unmanned aircraft systems, loitering munitions, counter-unmanned aircraft systems and related robotic technologies. Its products are designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision strike, force protection and tactical communications applications.

The company’s portfolio includes the Raven, Puma and Wasp small unmanned aircraft systems; the JUMP 20 vertical takeoff and landing aircraft; and the Switchblade family of loitering munitions.