Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Climb 6.2% – Should You Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares traded up 6.2% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $386.40 and last traded at $377.3120. Approximately 40,409 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 388,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Freedom Broker raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $476.67.

Argan Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $484.04 and its 200-day moving average is $578.96. The firm has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $1.12. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.53 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 13.37 EPS for the current year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 15.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IKE Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,481,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 166.8% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,921 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,311,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the period. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at about $5,484,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at about $1,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc is an engineering, procurement and construction company that provides services to the power generation and energy infrastructure industries. The company supports the development, construction, commissioning and maintenance of power facilities, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable energy projects and energy storage installations.

Argan primarily operates through subsidiaries including Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, project management and construction services for power generation projects; The Roberts Company, which performs industrial fabrication, equipment installation and field services; and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering and construction services for power and industrial facilities.