Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Upgraded at Raymond James Financial

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 25.00% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Aveanna Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Aveanna Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $6.25 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Aveanna Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aveanna Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.45.

Aveanna Healthcare Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock opened at $7.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 90.00 and a beta of 1.95. Aveanna Healthcare has a 52 week low of $3.67 and a 52 week high of $7.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 1,560,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $8,365,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,640,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,874,452.16. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder J.H. Whitney Equity Partners V sold 1,560,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $8,365,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,640,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,874,452.16. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,977,245 shares of company stock valued at $37,037,197 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Partners L P bought a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter valued at $50,477,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare by 12.1% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 810,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after purchasing an additional 87,500 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 103.9% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 664,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,477,000 after acquiring an additional 338,746 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 533,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,437,000 after acquiring an additional 177,856 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 207.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 479,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,510,000 after acquiring an additional 323,656 shares during the period. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aveanna Healthcare

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.