Osaic Holdings Inc. Purchases 5,251 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 89.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,146 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 5,251 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. owned 0.08% of Argan worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in Argan by 810.0% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 61,581 shares during the last quarter. Goodlander Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Argan in the 1st quarter worth $18,364,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 20.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 70,186 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,206,000 after buying an additional 11,796 shares during the period. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Argan in the second quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $418,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE AGX opened at $324.28 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $399.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $328.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.06.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released 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 company had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s payout ratio is 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,577.83. This represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,739 shares of company stock valued at $21,160,327. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target for the company. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company’s principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.