Alembic Global Advisors Upgrades AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) to “Overweight”

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Alembic Global Advisors from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $216.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock. Alembic Global Advisors’ price target suggests a potential upside of 21.51% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 27th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $177.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $177.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.54. The company has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.07 and a beta of 0.51. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $93.94 and a 1 year high of $224.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.56 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.21. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $197.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 9,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.23, for a total value of $1,669,792.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,904,723.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.70, for a total transaction of $89,621.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,258,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,891 shares of company stock worth $1,850,601. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth $315,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 203.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,077 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $516,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 120.6% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 136,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,884,000 after purchasing an additional 74,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,870,000 after buying an additional 470 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.