CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Acquires 4,000 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Argan were worth $10,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Argan by 26.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $604.70 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $126.07 and a one year high of $620.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $485.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 62.08 and a beta of 0.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is 20.53%.

Argan announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. The trade was a 42.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total transaction of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,509.76. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 42,281 shares of company stock worth $19,118,622 over the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company’s principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.