AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the December 31st total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 434,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

AAON Price Performance

Shares of AAON stock traded down $4.16 on Tuesday, hitting $110.93. 845,843 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 739,784. The firm has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.87 and a beta of 0.87. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.88. AAON has a 52 week low of $70.28 and a 52 week high of $144.07.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The construction company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $327.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.80 million. AAON had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 15.78%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AAON will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AAON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. AAON's payout ratio is 14.10%.

Insider Activity at AAON

In other news, VP Casey Kidwell sold 1,421 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.14, for a total transaction of $192,033.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $669,348.42. This represents a 22.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary D. Fields sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total transaction of $4,621,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 64,295 shares in the company, valued at $8,488,868.85. This trade represents a 35.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,329 shares of company stock worth $7,663,726 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AAON

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAON. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AAON by 5,040.4% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the construction company's stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in AAON by 691.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,666 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,548 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AAON by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 288,581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $31,121,000 after purchasing an additional 81,111 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC purchased a new position in shares of AAON during the third quarter valued at about $471,000. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AAON in the fourth quarter worth about $1,099,000. 70.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAON. Baird R W upgraded shares of AAON from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sidoti cut AAON from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on AAON from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on AAON from $102.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AAON has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.00.

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.