William Blair Initiates Coverage on Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH)

Equities research analysts at William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on AVAH. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Aveanna Healthcare in a research report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $5.50 to $9.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aveanna Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.69.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

NASDAQ AVAH opened at $9.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.39, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.09. Aveanna Healthcare has a 52-week low of $3.67 and a 52-week high of $10.32.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 10,000,000 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $90,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 386,284 shares in the company, valued at $3,476,556. This trade represents a 96.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 10,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $90,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 386,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,476,556. This trade represents a 96.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 32,597,968 shares of company stock valued at $293,381,712 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aveanna Healthcare

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare in the first quarter worth $59,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

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.