Why AeroVironment Stock Plunged This Week

Key Points

• Dilution fears were raised on news of twin capital-raising moves.

• The company is floating both fresh stock and convertible senior notes in a public offering.

Military drone specialist AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) has generally done well as a stock lately. But that didn't happen this week, as news of a round of capital-raising dampened investor sentiment on the company. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, AeroVironment stock lost more than 11% of its value over the period.

New shares and convertible notes

On Monday, AeroVironment announced it would float both a secondary share offering and an issue of convertible senior notes.

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The following day it set the parameters for the pair. With the former, it's selling just over 3.5 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering at $248 per share. The underwriters of the flotation have been granted a 30-day option to collectively purchase an additional 29,234 shares.

As for the convertible senior notes, AeroVironment is issuing $650 million aggregate principal amount at an interest rate of 0%. They are to be convertible at the investor's option under certain conditions and at certain periods. The initial conversion rate is slightly over 3.1 shares per $1,000 principal amount of the notes; the company said this equates to $322.40 per share.

AeroVironment said it expected both issues to close on Thursday, July 3, and to net proceeds of around $1.47 billion. The company aims to use a bit more than $965 million to retire debt, with the remainder being directed to "general corporate purposes." These include an increase in manufacturing capacity.

Dilution fears

Currently, AeroVironment has just under 45.6 million shares outstanding, so if conversion rates are high with the notes, the twin issues could be dilutive. Shareholder dilution is the bane of many of an investor, so it's likely this was the root of their discontent during the week.

On a fundamental basis, though, AeroVironment still looks like a good stock to own. The company seems to be doing well satisfying the growing demand for combat drones, as witnessed by its impressive fourth-quarter performance and its growing backlog. I wouldn't be down on the stock only because of its latest capital-raising moves.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AeroVironment. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.