Argan (NYSE:AGX) Chairman William Griffin, Jr. Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total value of $15,208,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. The trade was a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $736.53 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $666.01 and its 200-day moving average is $495.94. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.90 and a 52 week high of $791.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 64.72 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $35,629,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

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.