Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives $470.40 Average Target Price from Analysts

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $470.40.

Several research analysts have commented on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd.

Argan Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:AGX opened at $603.81 on Friday. Argan has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $805.75. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $676.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.45.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Argan will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total transaction of $1,329,818.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,297,536.75. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. This represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock worth $91,724,081. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $2,748,000. Thames Capital Management LLC increased its position in Argan by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,228,000 after purchasing an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,728,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $5,574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.