Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,876 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,476 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.09% of AAON worth $8,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PFG Advisors purchased a new position in AAON during the fourth quarter valued at $1,141,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AAON by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,328 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AAON by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 10,812 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in AAON by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AAON by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,868 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AAON Price Performance

Shares of AAON stock opened at $82.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $109.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.32. AAON, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.52 and a 12 month high of $144.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19 and a beta of 1.00.

AAON declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AAON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from AAON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. AAON’s payout ratio is 19.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Raymond Stewart bought 1,000 shares of AAON stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.86 per share, with a total value of $80,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,580. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 18.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of AAON from $155.00 to $116.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. CJS Securities raised shares of AAON from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of AAON from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AAON from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.