Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,239,482 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,832 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of AAON worth $734,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AAON by 208.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AAON in the third quarter valued at $537,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in AAON by 9.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,729,498 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,509,000 after acquiring an additional 151,540 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in AAON by 99.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,305 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of AAON by 1.0% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,796 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AAON Stock Down 2.7 %

AAON stock opened at $78.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $99.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.70. AAON, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.52 and a twelve month high of $144.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Increases Dividend

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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of AAON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AAON has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.50.

Insider Activity at AAON

In other news, Director David Raymond Stewart acquired 1,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.86 per share, for a total transaction of $80,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,580. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 18.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.