AAON (NASDAQ:AAON) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• AAON's stock price gapped up from $80.52 to $84.53 before trading on Thursday, and last traded at $85.74 with a trading volume of 211,113 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for AAON, with one strong buy, four buy ratings, and a consensus target price of $102.00.
• AAON recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.5%, scheduled to be paid on September 26th.

AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $80.52, but opened at $84.53. AAON shares last traded at $85.74, with a volume of 211,113 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAON shares. Sidoti upgraded shares of AAON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AAON from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of AAON from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of AAON from $102.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.00.

AAON Trading Up 3.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.29 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $81.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

AAON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. AAON's payout ratio is currently 27.21%.

Insider Activity at AAON

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

Institutional Trading of AAON

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Advisors boosted its position in shares of AAON by 114.8% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 20,836 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,628,000 after buying an additional 11,136 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in AAON in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AAON by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 716 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in AAON in the 1st quarter valued at about $789,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AAON by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.