Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) had its target price hoisted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $275.00 to $285.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 15.88% from the company’s current price.

AVAV has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Sunday. William Blair started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Sunday. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wedbush upgraded shares of AeroVironment to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $225.00 price target on AeroVironment and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $256.50.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of AVAV stock opened at $245.95 on Wednesday. AeroVironment has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $295.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.68 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.87.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 5.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 23.4% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 173,519 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $20,682,000 after buying an additional 32,921 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 62,969 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,505,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter worth $191,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at $508,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the first quarter valued at $508,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.