AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.50.

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

Insider Activity at AAON

In related news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.86 per share, for a total transaction of $80,860.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 18.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AAON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of AAON by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in AAON by 1.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,796 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in AAON by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. raised its position in shares of AAON by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 3,300 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AAON Stock Performance

AAON stock opened at $78.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.71 and a 200-day moving average of $112.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.79. AAON has a 1 year low of $69.52 and a 1 year high of $144.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42 and a beta of 1.00.

AAON declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AAON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is an increase from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. 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. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.90%.

AAON Company Profile

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.