William Leimkuhler Sells 4,212 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 4,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.53, for a total value of $1,350,072.36. Following the sale, the director owned 60,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,546,880.99. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Argan Stock Up 3.8%

AGX opened at $329.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $335.87 and its 200-day moving average is $277.10. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $399.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85 and a beta of 0.64.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly 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. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AGX. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price for the company. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Argan by 14,436.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Argan by 696.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after buying an additional 259,720 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Argan by 1,142.2% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,597,000 after acquiring an additional 173,477 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.