Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.47, but opened at $6.81. Aveanna Healthcare shares last traded at $6.89, with a volume of 305,426 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered Aveanna Healthcare from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $9.50 to $9.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Aveanna Healthcare from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens raised Aveanna Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aveanna Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $6.79 and a 200-day moving average of $7.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.35, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $647.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $613.22 million. Aveanna Healthcare had a return on equity of 124.68% and a net margin of 10.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aveanna Healthcare news, insider Patrick A. Cunningham sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.59, for a total value of $948,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 212,755 shares in the company, valued at $1,614,810.45. This represents a 37.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 425.8% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 163,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 132,779 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 402,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 157,368 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 263,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 67,393 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 13,155 shares during the last quarter. 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.