AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $216.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $207.20.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVAV opened at $193.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.32 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. AeroVironment has a twelve month low of $93.94 and a twelve month high of $224.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.71.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.48 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total value of $89,621.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,258,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total transaction of $89,621.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,155. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total transaction of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares in the company, valued at $16,904,723.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,891 shares of company stock worth $1,850,601. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,376,000 after buying an additional 179,395 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in AeroVironment by 132.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,511,676 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $275,367,000 after buying an additional 861,962 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 350,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,760,000 after acquiring an additional 28,288 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,932,000 after purchasing an additional 5,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in AeroVironment by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,949,000 after purchasing an additional 144,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

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.