Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 259,720 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 696.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 259,720 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 2.18% of Argan worth $65,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Argan by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,354 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its stake in shares of Argan by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.8% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 18,599 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Argan by 1.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,184 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total transaction of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at $10,668,864.82. This trade represents a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total transaction of $1,230,201.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 47,691 shares in the company, valued at $13,210,883.91. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock valued at $29,401,111. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $356.25 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $399.30. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.82 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $314.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.01.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given 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 was Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.17.

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.