Peter Getsinger Sells 6,595 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Peter Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total value of $2,068,917.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Argan Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:AGX opened at $311.58 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $399.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.70 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $335.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.66.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The company had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Argan by 69.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Argan by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,339,000 after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Argan by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,632,000 after purchasing an additional 68,689 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.