AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $230.00 price objective on the aerospace company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $240.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 15.96% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of AeroVironment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.83.

AeroVironment Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVAV traded up $3.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $198.34. The stock had a trading volume of 718,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 340,479. The firm's fifty day moving average is $206.75 and its 200 day moving average is $193.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.26. AeroVironment has a 52 week low of $116.51 and a 52 week high of $236.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.50 and a beta of 0.49.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The firm had revenue of $189.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AeroVironment will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.65, for a total value of $110,058.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,654,452.20. This trade represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $372,615. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in AeroVironment during the 1st quarter worth $854,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,094,831 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $474,376,000 after purchasing an additional 179,395 shares during the period. Natixis purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter valued at about $924,000. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 53.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,911,000 after buying an additional 6,648 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AeroVironment by 37.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,636 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 3,958 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.