AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $134.51 and last traded at $134.7830, with a volume of 807310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AeroVironment in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of AeroVironment in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AeroVironment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded AeroVironment from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AeroVironment from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.37.

AeroVironment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.05. The company has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.36.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The aerospace company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $480.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $451.95 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 5.77% and a positive return on equity of 4.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. AeroVironment has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.020-3.340 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AeroVironment news, Director Stephen Page sold 250 shares of AeroVironment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.27, for a total transaction of $38,067.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 48,253 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,484.31. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Brian Shackley sold 205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total value of $41,381.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,592,271.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 805 shares of company stock worth $142,671. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AeroVironment in the second quarter valued at about $574,566,000. Heard Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AeroVironment by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $174,681,000 after buying an additional 235,685 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in AeroVironment by 18.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 490,426 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,772,000 after purchasing an additional 77,619 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of AeroVironment by 20.1% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 595,134 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $84,640,000 after acquiring an additional 99,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the second quarter valued at about $69,745,000. 86.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AeroVironment Company Profile

AeroVironment, Inc is a defense technology company that develops and supplies autonomous systems, uncrewed aircraft, loitering munitions and counter-uncrewed-aircraft systems. Its portfolio includes small unmanned aircraft systems such as Raven, Puma and Wasp, as well as larger platforms including JUMP 20 and Quantix Recon.

The company is also known for its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, which combine surveillance, target identification and precision strike capabilities. AeroVironment provides related ground control systems, sensors, software, communications equipment, training and support services for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Founded in 1971 by aerospace engineer Paul B.