AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. CJS Securities upgraded AAON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.86 per share, with a total value of $80,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,580. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AAON

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of AAON by 521.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 230 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in AAON during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in AAON during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of AAON by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 313 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 325 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.81% of the company’s stock.

AAON Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAON opened at $78.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. AAON has a 12-month low of $69.52 and a 12-month high of $144.07. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 1.00.

AAON declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AAON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. AAON’s payout ratio is currently 19.90%.

About AAON

AAON, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and selling air conditioning and heating equipment in the United States and Canada. The company operates through three segments: AAON Oklahoma, AAON Coil Products, and BASX. It offers rooftop units, data center cooling solutions, cleanroom systems, chillers, packaged outdoor mechanical rooms, air handling units, makeup air units, energy recovery units, condensing units, geothermal/water-source heat pumps, coils, and controls.