AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $300.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $210.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.46.

AeroVironment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV opened at $235.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.73 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.11. AeroVironment has a one year low of $102.25 and a one year high of $295.90.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $275.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.69 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 39.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that AeroVironment will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Wahid Nawabi sold 17,300 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.05, for a total transaction of $4,550,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 122,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,153,390.65. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 14.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $991,089,000 after buying an additional 433,830 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 48.2% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,606,000 after buying an additional 293,553 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 41.0% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $91,000,000 after buying an additional 221,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 1.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 678,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $193,342,000 after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 75.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,019 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $173,540,000 after purchasing an additional 262,239 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.