Bosun Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Bosun Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,119 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,853 shares during the period. Argan makes up approximately 2.4% of Bosun Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Bosun Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Argan worth $7,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at $992,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Argan by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 2,756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Argan by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,485,000 after purchasing an additional 82,585 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Argan by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,758.88. This represents a 47.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated 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 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock valued at $29,401,111 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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. Finally, Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan Price Performance

AGX stock opened at $312.29 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.02 and a 1-year high of $399.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $315.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

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.