1,162 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Bought by Storgate LLC

Storgate LLC bought a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,162 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after acquiring an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Argan by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $125,462,000 after purchasing an additional 80,415 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $642.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $645.93 and its 200-day moving average is $477.61. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.82 and a 52-week high of $779.00. The company has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.48 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 350 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $630.58, for a total transaction of $220,703.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,703. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 800 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.88, for a total transaction of $495,904.00. Following the sale, the director owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,940. This trade represents a 61.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 in the last 90 days. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan 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.