Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Price Down 3.9% Following Insider Selling

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was down 3.9% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $375.00 and last traded at $381.8850. Approximately 93,039 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 341,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.42.

Specifically, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total value of $4,187,332.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,934,371.85. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.60, for a total value of $1,027,620.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,020,875.20. This represents a 16.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan Trading Down 4.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $339.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $282.53.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Argan’s payout ratio is 23.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $486,000. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $287,000. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $636,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.