William Leimkuhler Sells 2,164 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 2,164 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.28, for a total transaction of $688,757.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,750,264.60. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $329.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $399.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $335.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.10.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. 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 is presently 23.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Argan by 26.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AGX. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. CJS Securities raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report 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 report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

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.