AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Now Covered by JMP Securities

JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a market outperform rating and a $325.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target for the company. Wedbush raised AeroVironment to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on AeroVironment from $146.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $283.55.

AeroVironment Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of AVAV opened at $267.95 on Monday. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $102.25 and a 1 year high of $295.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.38. The stock has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of 172.87 and a beta of 0.99.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its 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. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 5.32%. The business had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $242.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AeroVironment news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total value of $4,550,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,153,390.65. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth $235,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,023 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 2nd quarter worth $428,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 141,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $40,413,000 after purchasing an additional 10,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 252,686 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,003,000 after purchasing an additional 27,868 shares during the last quarter. 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.