D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 5,115 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,782 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,115 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Argan were worth $4,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 26.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of Argan stock opened at $628.56 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $142.97 and a one year high of $683.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $522.87 and its 200 day moving average is $403.12. The firm has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.53 and a beta of 0.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.88, for a total transaction of $495,904.00. Following the sale, the director owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $309,940. This represents a 61.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 61,193 shares of company stock worth $36,949,173 over the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.