Brokerages Set AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) PT at $175.20

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.20.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVAV shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 target price for the company.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AVAV opened at $166.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.00 and a beta of 0.51. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.14. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $91.25 and a 12 month high of $224.00.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AeroVironment news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.45, for a total value of $91,187.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,807,052.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,904,723.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 21,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,807,052.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,891 shares of company stock worth $1,850,601 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $565,000. Magnus Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $325,000. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $549,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,607,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.