Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 36,760 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 76.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,131 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 36,760 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Argan worth $2,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Argan by 2,987.5% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 247 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $170,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at $109,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.00.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $352.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.39 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $365.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.79.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released 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. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The business had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total transaction of $1,911,474.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. The trade was a 39.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,758.88. This represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.