Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $8.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.78.

Aveanna Healthcare Stock Up 3.0%

AVAH stock opened at $12.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.78. Aveanna Healthcare has a 52-week low of $5.93 and a 52-week high of $12.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $670.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.61 million. Aveanna Healthcare had a return on equity of 80.70% and a net margin of 10.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aveanna Healthcare will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total value of $24,030,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 190,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,522,941.30. This represents a 94.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total value of $24,030,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 190,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,522,941.30. The trade was a 94.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 31,305,664 shares of company stock valued at $215,555,910 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Littlejohn & Co. LLC bought a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,846,878,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $176,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $6,124,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $1,043,000. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aveanna Healthcare

Aveanna Healthcare, Inc (NASDAQ: AVAH) is a national provider of in-home health care services, specializing in pediatric skilled nursing, therapy, and related support for medically complex and chronically ill children. The company delivers a range of clinical and therapeutic solutions designed to enable patients to receive care in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for hospital stays and long-term institutional care. Aveanna’s offerings include registered nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, behavioral health counseling, and durable medical equipment coordination.

In addition to pediatric home health services, Aveanna operates adult home health and personal care support programs, assisting elderly and disabled adults with daily living activities, medication management, and rehabilitation therapies.