Quantinno Capital Management LP Raises Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 134.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,914 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,818 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Argan were worth $2,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $597.43 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $651.30 and its 200-day moving average is $567.84. The company has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.50 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were 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 was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,411,120. This represents a 29.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. This represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan presently 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.