AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Investment analysts at Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a research note issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 74.45% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AVAV. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 5th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of AeroVironment to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.81.

AeroVironment Stock Down 0.1%

AVAV opened at $117.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.36. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $408.25.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $480.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.95 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.04% and a negative net margin of 5.77%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,592,271.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total value of $38,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 48,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,347,484.31. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 805 shares of company stock valued at $142,671 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in AeroVironment in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies uncrewed aircraft systems, loitering munitions, counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems, space systems and related autonomous technologies. Its products are designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision strike, tactical communications and other defense and security missions.

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