Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $355.20.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective on the stock. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total transaction of $4,187,332.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,934,371.85. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,175,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 125.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,377,000 after buying an additional 6,955 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $971,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,772,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Argan Trading Up 2.1%

AGX stock opened at $415.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $349.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $304.56. Argan has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $449.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95 and a beta of 0.63.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

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.