Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $355.20.

AGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total transaction of $328,040.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total value of $4,079,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,758.88. The trade was a 47.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 49,693 shares of company stock valued at $14,367,409 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Argan by 229.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth about $232,000. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 81.8% during the second quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 8,084 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 3,638 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth approximately $418,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Argan by 696.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE AGX opened at $316.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $330.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.75. Argan has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $399.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.56%.

About Argan

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.