Invst LLC Buys New Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Invst LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,778 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,017,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $28,697,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at about $1,567,000. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at about $4,759,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth about $11,331,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth about $25,003,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,411,120. This represents a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. This trade represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Argan Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $450.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $624.07 and its 200-day moving average is $582.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56 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 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 business had revenue of $290.95 million for 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 was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 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.