AAON (NASDAQ:AAON) Trading Up 6.5% Following Dividend Announcement

AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)’s stock price traded up 6.5% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $81.46 and last traded at $80.11. 209,149 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 629,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.25.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. AAON’s payout ratio is presently 15.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AAON Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.16. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.74 and a beta of 0.87.

AAON declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AAON

In other news, VP Stephen E. Wakefield sold 5,362 shares of AAON stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.99, for a total value of $702,368.38. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $597,052.42. This trade represents a 54.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Thompson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.00, for a total value of $690,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,986. This trade represents a 22.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AAON

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