Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Lake Street Capital Analyst Says

Argan (NYSE:AGX) had its price objective raised by analysts at Lake Street Capital from $236.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock. Lake Street Capital’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.99% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AGX. Kepler Capital Markets cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.00.

Argan Trading Down 11.1%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $211.39 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.62. Argan has a twelve month low of $86.80 and a twelve month high of $253.79.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $237.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.67% and a net margin of 12.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,688,316.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,242,711.08. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.92, for a total value of $8,316,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,442,531.44. This trade represents a 70.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,564 shares of company stock worth $21,046,366 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 89.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,146 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 5,251 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth $660,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth $3,503,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $2,948,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 174.7% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 6,711 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 4,268 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.