Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 167,831 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,750,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.21% of AAON at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. increased 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 during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in AAON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AAON in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of AAON by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 325 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AAON by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AAON Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAON stock opened at $79.16 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $98.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.74. AAON, Inc. has a one year low of $69.52 and a one year high of $144.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87 and a beta of 1.00.

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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.90%.

AAON announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AAON

In other news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, 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 available through this link. Company insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

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.