Argan (NYSE:AGX) Chairman Sells $15,208,600.00 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total transaction of $15,208,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. The trade was a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Argan Stock Down 6.8%

Shares of Argan stock traded down $53.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $736.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 437,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,993. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.90 and a 52-week high of $791.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $663.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.23. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.72 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at approximately $692,000. DV Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the first quarter worth $327,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter valued at $301,000. Norris Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter valued at $4,850,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.