Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AVAH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aveanna Healthcare in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aveanna Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.06.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

AVAH opened at $7.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.18. Aveanna Healthcare has a 12-month low of $3.67 and a 12-month high of $10.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.39.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $621.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.57 million. Aveanna Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 143.55% and a net margin of 3.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aveanna Healthcare will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aveanna Healthcare

In related news, insider Patrick A. Cunningham sold 12,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.85, for a total transaction of $97,693.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 293,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,828.90. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Edwin C. Reisz sold 17,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.85, for a total value of $138,262.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,321,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,370,744.90. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 259,638 shares of company stock worth $2,109,595 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aveanna Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVAH. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 88,100.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 11,453 shares during the period. Finally, Belvedere Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Aveanna Healthcare Company Profile

Aveanna Healthcare, Inc (NASDAQ: AVAH) is a national provider of in-home health care services, specializing in pediatric skilled nursing, therapy, and related support for medically complex and chronically ill children. The company delivers a range of clinical and therapeutic solutions designed to enable patients to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for hospital stays and long-term institutional care. Aveanna’s offerings include registered nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, behavioral health counseling, and durable medical equipment coordination.

In addition to pediatric home health services, Aveanna operates adult home health and personal care support programs, assisting elderly and disabled adults with daily living activities, medication management, and rehabilitation therapies.