Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stock Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,771 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 15,666 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.25% of Argan worth $22,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 419.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Argan by 1,123.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 416 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Argan by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $204.23 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $206.55 and its 200 day moving average is $164.05. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.53 and a fifty-two week high of $246.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 21.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total value of $1,688,316.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,242,711.08. This represents a 13.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,157,888.95. The trade was a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock valued at $18,221,387 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.