Independent Financial Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,869 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,748,000. Thames Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,228,000 after purchasing an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,574,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,539,416.96. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,052,056.10. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $196.90 and a one year high of $805.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $678.24 and its 200-day moving average is $543.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. Argan’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.