BMO Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH)

Equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.50% from the stock’s current price.

AVAH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aveanna Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of Aveanna Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $5.50 to $9.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Zacks Research downgraded Aveanna Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Aveanna Healthcare from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.19.

Aveanna Healthcare Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AVAH stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 57,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. Aveanna Healthcare has a 52 week low of $3.67 and a 52 week high of $10.32. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 2.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.59.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aveanna Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 143.55% and a net margin of 3.29%.The firm had revenue of $450.53 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aveanna Healthcare will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $13,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 362,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,264,714. This represents a 80.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder J.H. Whitney Equity Partners V sold 1,251,909 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $11,267,181.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,292,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $173,635,083. This represents a 6.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,597,968 shares of company stock valued at $293,381,712. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the first quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter valued at $59,000. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Aveanna Healthcare

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.