Kaizen Financial Strategies Cuts Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Kaizen Financial Strategies cut its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,423 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,172 shares during the quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings in Argan were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Palisades Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Argan by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.40.

Argan Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $573.82 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $437.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $359.89. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.16 and a 52-week high of $588.00. The company has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 58.91 and a beta of 0.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,134,246.90. The trade was a 42.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,894.60. The trade was a 55.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 61,852 shares of company stock valued at $23,673,413 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.