Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Up 7.3% – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s share price was up 7.3% during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $415.94 and last traded at $416.2050. 257,087 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 388,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Freedom Broker upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Lake Street Capital raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $476.67.

Argan Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $463.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $576.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.53 million. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in Argan by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,131,000 after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Argan by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $216,728,000 after acquiring an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. 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 engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.