Short Interest in AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) Decreases By 5.1%

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the October 31st total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 363,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

AeroVironment Stock Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $193.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 4.26 and a quick ratio of 3.04. AeroVironment has a 12 month low of $116.51 and a 12 month high of $236.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.36. The company has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 90.66 and a beta of 0.45.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.28. AeroVironment had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 9.87%. The business had revenue of $189.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AeroVironment will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVAV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised AeroVironment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird upgraded AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $161.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of AeroVironment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of AeroVironment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.83.

Insider Activity at AeroVironment

In other news, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.54, for a total value of $184,854.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,343.04. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,782 shares of company stock worth $373,609. 1.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 299.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in AeroVironment by 39.6% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,451 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 634,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $127,180,000 after buying an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AeroVironment by 149.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,245 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,477,000 after buying an additional 34,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 85.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

AeroVironment Company Profile

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.