Zacks Research Upgrades AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) to Hold

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $390.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $389.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.78.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVAV opened at $166.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $265.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 4.54. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of -38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.35. AeroVironment has a 1 year low of $154.39 and a 1 year high of $417.86.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $408.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.94 million. AeroVironment had a positive return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 13.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 143.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AeroVironment will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Brian Charles Shackley sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $42,504.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,794 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,340.88. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Page sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.29, for a total transaction of $49,322.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,766,052.29. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,975 shares of company stock valued at $740,324. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 60.0% in the third quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in AeroVironment in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in AeroVironment by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 80 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about AeroVironment

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. Army prototype award for Switchblade® 400 under the LASSO program — validates AVAV’s medium-range loitering-munition as a program-of-record candidate and could lead to follow-on production orders and higher defense revenue over time. U.S. Army Selects AV’s Switchblade 400
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion and new awards in loitering munitions and counter?UAS (Halo_Shield) — expands TAM exposure into counter?drone and infrastructure protection, aligning AVAV with the Pentagon’s increased drone spending. This supports medium-term revenue growth and defense relevance. AeroVironment Expands Loitering Munition
• Positive Sentiment: Macro tailwinds — broader AI/defense spending and a reported provisional patent filing for vision-architecture tech position AVAV in higher-priority defense upgrades, which could improve long-term margins and product differentiation if commercialized. AI Defense Spending Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/coverage notes — AVAV appears in some bullish analyst writeups that highlight competitive advantages, but such pieces can be promotional; treat price targets as one input, not a guarantee. 1 of Wall Street’s Favorite Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary points to the Army deal as a near-term narrative that could stabilize trading, but such headlines often produce short-lived relief rallies rather than sustained moves. MSN: AVAV looks to snap losing streak
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly earnings and revenue missed expectations — the recent quarter showed an EPS shortfall and revenue well below consensus, a direct catalyst for selling as investors price in execution risks despite strong year-over-year revenue growth. Zacks: AVAV Stock Slides
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/flow pressure — heavy intraday volume, a sharp pullback from recent highs and trading below the 50- and 200-day moving averages point to profit-taking and stop-driven selling that can amplify downside near term. No external link

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.