215,505 Shares in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. $AVAH Bought by Littlejohn & Co. LLC

Littlejohn & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 215,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,846,878,000. Aveanna Healthcare comprises 2.3% of Littlejohn & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $63,504,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aveanna Healthcare by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,577,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,564,000 after buying an additional 1,535,351 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,849,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,110,000 after buying an additional 278,429 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC raised its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 135.9% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,571,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,838,000 after buying an additional 905,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Aveanna Healthcare by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,483,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,118,000 after acquiring an additional 256,392 shares during the period. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aveanna Healthcare

In related news, major shareholder Paul R. Vigano sold 2,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total value of $25,875,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,315,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,632,758. The trade was a 15.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeff Shaner sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.50, for a total transaction of $1,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,561,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,462,678. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 79,746,745 shares of company stock worth $773,117,091 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVAH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aveanna Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aveanna Healthcare from $8.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aveanna Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Aveanna Healthcare from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.89.

Aveanna Healthcare Price Performance

NASDAQ:AVAH opened at $13.82 on Friday. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.93 and a 52 week high of $14.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.08.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.05. Aveanna Healthcare had a return on equity of 80.70% and a net margin of 10.56%.The company had revenue of $670.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $638.61 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.