AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $190.00. The stock had previously closed at $141.90, but opened at $110.07. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AeroVironment shares last traded at $133.70, with a volume of 898,069 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AVAV. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AeroVironment from $220.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVAV. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 15.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,843 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,808 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 5,965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $387,000. Finally, Wealth Quarterback LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.03.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $188.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.