Alpine Investment Management Ltd Invests $16.20 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Alpine Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 60,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,203,000. Argan comprises 5.5% of Alpine Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Alpine Investment Management Ltd owned approximately 0.43% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,175,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Argan by 125.3% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,955 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at $971,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth $3,772,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target for the company. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,461,682.37. The trade was a 45.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 26,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock valued at $20,182,794 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $413.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.66 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $377.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $322.39. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.02 and a 52 week high of $469.88.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

About Argan

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.