Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Decreases Stake in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 42.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 699,720 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 525,880 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in AAON were worth $82,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AAON by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 606,944 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,425,000 after purchasing an additional 38,949 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in AAON during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in AAON during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of AAON by 350.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,800 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AAON in the fourth quarter worth $192,000. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AAON Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAON opened at $112.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.68 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $124.39 and a 200 day moving average of $112.08. 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 $70.28 and a twelve month high of $144.07.

AAON (NASDAQ:AAON) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The construction company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $327.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.80 million. AAON had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 15.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AAON, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AAON Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. AAON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary D. Fields sold 35,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.03, for a total value of $4,621,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,488,868.85. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Casey Kidwell sold 4,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.38, for a total value of $654,078.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $675,490.14. This represents a 49.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,329 shares of company stock worth $7,663,726. Insiders own 18.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AAON. Sidoti lowered shares of AAON from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on AAON from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Baird R W raised AAON from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of AAON from $102.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AAON currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.