Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Argan were worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Goodlander Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the first quarter valued at about $18,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan during the first quarter valued at about $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,485,000 after acquiring an additional 82,585 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the first quarter valued at about $9,958,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in Argan by 258.0% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 101,181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,272,000 after acquiring an additional 72,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.09, for a total transaction of $2,920,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,135,642.54. This represents a 32.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total value of $1,230,201.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,691 shares in the company, valued at $13,210,883.91. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,027 shares of company stock valued at $26,875,296 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Glj Research initiated coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on Argan in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.20.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $311.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $313.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.91.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.03%.

Argan Company 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.