Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 1,541 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 31.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,309 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,541 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 843,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $115,605,000 after purchasing an additional 16,784 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,170,000 after purchasing an additional 116,783 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 529,052 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,502,000 after purchasing an additional 29,062 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 480,658 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,869,000 after purchasing an additional 73,654 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Argan by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,475,000 after purchasing an additional 80,844 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $208.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.55. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.17 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.53 and a 52-week high of $246.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $193.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.75 million. Argan had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 11.00%. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total transaction of $3,041,850.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 196,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,589,882.34. The trade was a 6.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total value of $732,706.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,157,888.95. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,696 shares of company stock valued at $19,291,140 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Argan

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.