AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) Short Interest Up 27.9% in August

Key Points

• AAON, Inc. experienced a significant 27.9% increase in short interest in August, with a total of 4,950,000 shares shorted as of August 15th.
• The company reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the last quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.31, and revenue was assessed at $311.57 million.
• AAON announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with payments scheduled for September 26th to investors of record on September 5th.

AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,950,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the July 31st total of 3,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher Douglas Eason sold 12,003 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total transaction of $1,021,215.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $451,009.08. This represents a 69.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Thompson sold 9,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.09, for a total transaction of $758,191.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,978,271.64. This trade represents a 27.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AAON

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAON. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of AAON by 613.3% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 321 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AAON by 96.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AAON by 652.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 331 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of AAON during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of AAON by 81.2% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 589 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAON. Sidoti raised shares of AAON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of AAON from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AAON from $102.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AAON from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AAON presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.00.

AAON Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAON traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $82.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,306,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 872,196. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.45. AAON has a 52 week low of $62.00 and a 52 week high of $144.07.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The construction company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $311.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.15 million. AAON had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AAON will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

AAON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. AAON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.21%.

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.