Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $450.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 61.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AVAV. Zacks Research raised shares of AeroVironment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on AeroVironment from $295.00 to $389.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AeroVironment from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $378.06.

AeroVironment Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of AVAV opened at $278.39 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $288.74 and its 200 day moving average is $294.78. The company has a current ratio of 5.08, a quick ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. AeroVironment has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $417.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a PE ratio of -222.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.16.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $472.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.16 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.42% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 150.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.400-3.550 EPS. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Brian Charles Shackley sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.92, for a total value of $50,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,504,014.48. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 999 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.60, for a total transaction of $367,232.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,359,847.60. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,503 over the last three months. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAV. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 60.0% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Tema Etfs LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AeroVironment in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 100.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.