Whittier Trust Co. Acquires New Position in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 391 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in AAON by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 16,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after buying an additional 6,869 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AAON by 208.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AAON in the third quarter worth $537,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AAON in the third quarter valued at $353,000. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of AAON by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 177,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,088,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.81% of the company’s stock.

AAON Price Performance

AAON stock opened at $83.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82 and a beta of 1.00. AAON, Inc. has a one year low of $69.52 and a one year high of $144.07.

AAON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is an increase from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.90%.

AAON declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AAON. StockNews.com downgraded AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. CJS Securities raised shares of 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AAON currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AAON news, Director David Raymond Stewart purchased 1,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,580. The trade was a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

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.