AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $320.6429.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $320.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $267.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock.

AeroVironment Trading Up 9.9%

AVAV stock opened at $346.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.96, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. AeroVironment has a 12-month low of $102.25 and a 12-month high of $346.24. The stock has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -540.74, a PEG ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $260.52 and its 200 day moving average is $207.07.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $454.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 140.0% on a year-over-year basis. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AeroVironment

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

Institutional Trading of AeroVironment

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVAV. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 41.0% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 763,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after purchasing an additional 221,948 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 35.4% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,669 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in AeroVironment by 94.8% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,415 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 139,835 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,667,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.