Defense Co. Supported by Australian Prime Minister

DroneShield Ltd. (DRO:ASX; DRSHF:OTC) has announced in a press release that Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, was recently pictured with one of DroneShield's products, the DroneGun Mk4 portable counterdrone system during a visit to the White House.

According to the press release, the Prime Minister supports the company as an Australian contractor as global tensions continue to rise and that AU$10.4 million of the company's products were sent as aid to Ukraine in October.

Oleg Vornik, the CEO of the company, stated, "DroneShield continues to receive strong support form both Australian and U.S. Governments, being our two home bases. This image of the Australian Prime Minister holding our flagship product is a showcase of this support. Most work we do is under strict confidentiality due to the nature of our customers, and it's pleasing to see this public endorsement of our work, as global tensions and hostile use of drones continue globally."

Focus Shifting to Small Drones Warfare

A report from McAlinden Research highlighted how small drones have increasingly become a part of modern warfare and detailed that the United States Army had developed a plan to arm small drones, which it believes is a more cost-effective method than large combat drones and is a tactic that has been proven effective in Ukraine. The US Army has awarded significant contracts to defense corporations in the past, such as its US$237 million contract with Raytheon Technologies.

Darren Odell, an analyst with Peloton Capital, reviewed the company on July 20, 2023, and also rated the company as a "Buy" for potential investors with a target share price of AU$0.84 per share.

As a result, counter-drone technology has also become increasingly important. David Axe of The Daily Beast also covered the use of counter-drone tech in the conflict in the Middle East, where the Israeli army is engineering methods to guard troops against this new weapon.

Axe commented on the dire need for counters to this technology: "They're so cheap, and thus so easy to deploy in huge numbers, that armies are struggling to develop defenses fast enough to prevent devastating drone campaigns."

Potential 179% Return

Technical Analyst Clive Maund reviewed the company on July 19, 2023, and rated the company as a "Buy" for potential investors. Maund cited several factors in his positive review of the company, including the conflict in Ukraine, which has seen heavy drone use, and the company's advantageous stock position. Maund commented, "the fact that the stock has been behaving like a young, dynamic stock in recent days implies that something big is in the offing, so the current strong upside momentum looks set to continue and may even accelerate."

Darren Odell, an analyst with Peloton Capital, reviewed the company on July 20, 2023, and also rated the company as a "Buy" for potential investors with a target share price of AU$0.84 per share, representing a potential return on investment of 179%. Odell believes that the company's recently acquired contracts and its significant revenue growth to AU$100 million indicate future success.

Laing put out an updated report on November 30, where he reiterated his Buy rating and raised his price target to AU$0.50 per share.

Daniel Laing of Bell Potter looked at DroneShield on October 24, 2023, rated the company as a "Buy" for investors, and gave a target price of AU$0.45 with a return on investment of 58%. Laing commented that "the company very well could have a record year." Laing also stated that DroneShield could have lucrative contracts coming down the pipe.

Laing put out an updated report on November 30, where he reiterated his Buy rating and raised his price target to AU$0.50 per share.

DroneShield has a number of catalysts to report, according to its investor presentation, including a  5-year goal of AU$300 to US$500 annual revenue, with half of that belonging to SaaS and software development.

Ownership and Share Structure

Reuters provided a breakdown of the company's ownership and share structure, where management and insiders own approximately 6.28% of the company.

According to Reuters, CEO and Managing Director Oleg Vornik owns 1.71% of the company with 10.46 million shares, CFO and Company Secretary Carla Balanco owns 1.38% of the company with 8.45 million shares, CTO Angus Bean owns 1.21% of the company with 7.39 million shares, Independent Non-Executive Chairman Peter James owns 1.07% of the company with 6.53 million shares, and Director Paul Jonathan Shaw owns 0.91% of the company with 5.58 million shares.

Institutions own approximately 7.99% of the company, as Epirus Inc. owns 3.03% of the company with 18.50 million shares, Beta Gamma Pty. Ltd. and Ravenscourt Pty. Ltd. together own 3.52% of the company, with 21.5 million shares, S R Bennett Pty. Ltd. owns 0.88% of the company with 5.35 million shares, and P & B Shaw FT CB Pty. Ltd. owns 0.56% of the company with 3.43 million shares.

According to Reuters, there are 611.4 million shares outstanding with 511.84 million free float traded shares, while the company has a market cap of CA$132.8 million and trades in the 52-week period between CA$0.18 and CA$0.42.

Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of DroneShield Ltd.
2. Amanda Duvall wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. 
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