Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 89,943 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 40.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,934 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 89,943 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.94% of Argan worth $71,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth $2,748,000. Thames Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 10,411 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $5,574,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at $1,728,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AGX. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $566.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.00 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $668.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $551.09.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total transaction of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,052,056.10. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,875,512. This trade represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,407 shares of company stock worth $89,930,342. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.