Driehaus Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 693,407 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,362 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.85% of AAON worth $81,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AAON by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,700 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in AAON by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the construction company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in AAON by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 3,300 shares of the construction company's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AAON by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 18,503 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AAON Price Performance

NASDAQ AAON traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.53. The company had a trading volume of 182,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,787. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. AAON, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.98 and a twelve month high of $144.07. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.06.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.13. AAON had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 15.78%. The firm had revenue of $322.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that AAON, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

AAON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from AAON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. AAON's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.86 per share, for a total transaction of $80,860.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $242,580. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary D. Fields sold 8,357 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.66, for a total value of $824,501.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,613,602.06. This represents a 23.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAON shares. CJS Securities upgraded 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. DA Davidson lowered their target price on AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AAON from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AAON has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.50.

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.