Aveanna Healthcare drops as PE sponsor reduces stake
AVAH•Shares fall after secondary offering is priced
Shares of home care provider Aveanna Healthcare Holdings AVAH.O were down 8.4% at $11.88 in premarket trading on Friday after a secondary offering was priced.
AVAH late Thursday announced 15 million shares sold by affiliates of J.H. Whitney Equity Partners and some current and former company insiders at $11.75.
The offering price is a 9.4% discount to the stock's last sale on Thursday.
RBC was sole bookrunner for the offering.
Private equity firm J.H. Whitney comprised the bulk of the selling; AVAH has about 218.3 million shares outstanding, according to the prospectus.
Atlanta, Georgia-based AVAH's stock notched a 25% gain on Aug. 13 after the company posted a second-quarter beat and hiked its annual revenue forecast; it cited strong organic growth across all three business segments -- Private Duty Services (PDS), Home Health & Hospice (HHH) and Medical Solutions (MS).
Through Thursday, the stock had surged about 70% over the past three months; it touched a record intraday high of $13.39 on Thursday.
Eight of 11 analysts rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy," and three rate it "hold"; the median price target is $13, according to LSEG data.
