Argan (NYSE:AGX) CFO Joshua Scott Baugher Sells 600 Shares

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.60, for a total value of $363,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $895,682.40. This represents a 28.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Argan Stock Up 2.0%

AGX opened at $609.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $489.97 and a 200 day moving average of $385.56. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.58 and a beta of 0.46. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.07 and a 52-week high of $620.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. The business had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.53%.

Argan announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Argan by 69.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised 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 purchasing an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Argan by 172.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

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.