Fmr LLC Increases Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 68.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,336,000 after buying an additional 73,658 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at $5,245,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Argan by 72.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,586,000 after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,783,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Argan stock opened at $140.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.44 and a twelve month high of $165.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.33.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. The trade was a 22.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,703 shares of company stock worth $3,859,494 over the last ninety days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.