Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $2.07 Million Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,756 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Argan worth $2,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Amundi lifted its holdings in Argan by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 31,086 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,763 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Kepler Capital Markets cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total value of $3,041,850.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 196,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,589,882.34. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 50,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,242,711.08. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,404 shares of company stock valued at $18,221,387 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $206.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.53 and a 12-month high of $246.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.75 million. Argan had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

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.