Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 24,481 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 46.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,286 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 24,481 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Argan worth $15,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Argan by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 118.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 37.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth about $286,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.31, for a total transaction of $1,729,740.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,144 shares in the company, valued at $15,421,078.64. This represents a 10.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AGX. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $618.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $655.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.33 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.00 and a 12 month high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.57%.

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.