Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $425.40.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total value of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,847 shares in the company, valued at $4,302,380.92. The trade was a 30.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $11,175,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $971,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Argan by 125.3% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after buying an additional 6,955 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $680.83 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $543.96 and its 200-day moving average is $415.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 69.90 and a beta of 0.61. Argan has a 52 week low of $168.26 and a 52 week high of $742.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The business had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Argan will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.53%.

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

About Argan

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.