JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Argan (NYSE:AGX) Price Target to $785.00

Argan (NYSE:AGX) had its target price lowered by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $800.00 to $785.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 106.36% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Freedom Broker upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $476.67.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $380.40 on Tuesday. Argan has a one year low of $255.60 and a one year high of $805.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $484.04 and a 200-day moving average of $578.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%.The firm had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Argan will post 13.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $332,726,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in Argan by 5.9% in the 1st 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,728,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.