AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) was downgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $240.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.31% from the stock’s current price.

AVAV has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James lowered AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AeroVironment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $217.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.26, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.61. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $116.51 and a 12 month high of $236.60. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.14 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 9.87% and a net margin of 7.82%. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total value of $110,058.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,654,452.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVAV. Security National Bank bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 51.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.