Argan (NYSE:AGX) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $173.82 and last traded at $170.03, with a volume of 89583 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $156.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.96. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,290 shares of company stock worth $4,420,019. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 1.8% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Argan by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 5.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,616 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Argan by 21.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,009 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.