Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $1.57 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,963 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Argan during the second quarter worth $131,878,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Argan by 168.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $421.90 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.00 and a 1 year high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $599.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $584.78.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total value of $557,308.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,084,550.70. This represents a 33.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. This represents a 16.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AGX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

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.