AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Trading 4.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) rose 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $333.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. AeroVironment traded as high as $363.77 and last traded at $360.28. Approximately 1,568,611 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 885,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.08.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on AVAV. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on AeroVironment from $300.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on AeroVironment in a research report on Monday, August 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $305.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $991,089,000 after acquiring an additional 433,830 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 902,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,606,000 after acquiring an additional 293,553 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after acquiring an additional 221,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 678,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $193,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in AeroVironment by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 609,019 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $173,540,000 after acquiring an additional 262,239 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 5.96, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of -562.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $262.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.69.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 4.67% and a negative net margin of 4.14%.The company had revenue of $454.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 140.0% on a year-over-year basis. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.70 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.