Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,616 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,661 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Argan were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth about $55,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 1,116.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in Argan by 322.2% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 4,212 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.53, for a total transaction of $1,350,072.36. Following the sale, the director owned 60,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,546,880.99. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total value of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,682.37. This trade represents a 45.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,664 shares of company stock valued at $7,728,116. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Glj Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Argan Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $329.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $399.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.10.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Argan Company Profile

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.