86,532 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Acquired by Emerald Advisers LLC

Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 86,532 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,368,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned 0.63% of Argan at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 1,116.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Argan by 322.2% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.60, for a total value of $1,027,620.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,020,875.20. This trade represents a 16.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total value of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,915 shares of company stock worth $11,031,594. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $397.18 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $399.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $339.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.53.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $251.15 million during 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%. The business’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 earned $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan 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.