Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT cut its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Argan were worth $16,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth about $131,878,000. SurgoCap Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth about $119,769,000. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,262,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Freedom Broker raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.00.

Argan Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE AGX opened at $328.77 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $276.28 and a 52 week high of $805.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $409.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $516.41.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The company had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.53 million. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance services for the power generation and renewable energy industries. Its work supports the development, construction and improvement of utility-scale energy infrastructure.

Through its subsidiaries, Argan offers engineering and construction management, project development support, procurement, installation, startup and commissioning services. Its projects have included natural gas-fired power plants, solar and other renewable energy facilities, and related industrial and electrical infrastructure.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, procurement and construction services for power generation and renewable energy projects, and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering, project management and construction-related services.