Royce & Associates LP Takes $14 Million Position in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 179,175 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $13,999,000. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.22% of AAON as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAON. Smith Moore & CO. grew its stake in AAON by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 3,300 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 18,503 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of AAON by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 313 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AAON by 26.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 716 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in AAON by 25.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 938 shares of the construction company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AAON Price Performance

Shares of AAON stock traded up $5.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.37. 1,460,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,221,300. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.88 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. AAON, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.98 and a 52 week high of $144.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $83.01 and its 200-day moving average is $92.46.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.13. AAON had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm had revenue of $322.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AAON, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AAON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. AAON's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gordon Douglas Wichman sold 21,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.48, for a total transaction of $2,225,632.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at $914,617.92. This represents a 70.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary D. Fields sold 8,357 shares of AAON 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,491 shares in the company, valued at $2,613,602.06. This trade represents a 23.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,823 shares of company stock valued at $7,122,451. Company insiders own 18.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAON shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded AAON from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Sidoti upgraded shares of AAON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.50.

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.