Bailard Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,664 Argan, Inc. $AGX

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,664 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,339,000 after acquiring an additional 11,788 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $232,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 1,142.2% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,597,000 after purchasing an additional 173,477 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth about $2,862,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total value of $1,230,201.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,210,883.91. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,668,864.82. This trade represents a 23.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Up 5.3%

AGX opened at $352.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 42.39 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.79. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $365.09.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $237.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.Argan’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.00.

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.