OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Invests $4.62 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,785 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,620,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,764,086,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Argan by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 2.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 5.9% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,131,000 after purchasing an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AGX. Weiss Ratings cut Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total transaction of $3,350,497.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828 over the last ninety days. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Down 6.5%

NYSE:AGX opened at $469.15 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.00 and a 12-month high of $805.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $628.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $581.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.23 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.57%.

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.