By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 27.1% from the November 15th total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 407,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AVAV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James downgraded AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AeroVironment
Insider Transactions at AeroVironment
In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.73, for a total value of $78,697.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,472 shares in the company, valued at $3,273,480.56. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,782 shares of company stock valued at $373,609 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.27% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of AeroVironment
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVAV. Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the third quarter worth $31,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of AeroVironment during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AeroVironment by 51.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in AeroVironment by 23.1% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 400 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
AeroVironment Stock Performance
AVAV stock traded up $2.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.50. The company had a trading volume of 611,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,664. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.94 and a beta of 0.45. AeroVironment has a twelve month low of $116.51 and a twelve month high of $236.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.43.
AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). AeroVironment had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AeroVironment 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.
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