AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Shares Gap Down to $192.81

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $192.81, but opened at $177.00. AeroVironment shares last traded at $167.20, with a volume of 300,014 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVAV. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AeroVironment in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AeroVironment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.20.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.05 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.18.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The aerospace company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $197.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.48 million. AeroVironment had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 11.24%. AeroVironment’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 145.6% in the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 14,454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,215,000 after acquiring an additional 8,569 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,739 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 136.7% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 5,616 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 18,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 6,648 shares during the last quarter. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.