Penn Mutual Asset Management Raises Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Penn Mutual Asset Management raised its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 195.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,050 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,650 shares during the quarter. Argan accounts for 2.0% of Penn Mutual Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Penn Mutual Asset Management owned approximately 0.07% of Argan worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AGX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Argan by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the second quarter worth $5,245,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Argan by 72.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,586,000 after buying an additional 47,881 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at $4,783,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth about $3,168,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Trading Down 4.0 %

AGX stock opened at $149.91 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.74 and a 12-month high of $165.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.36 and its 200 day moving average is $95.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.14 and a beta of 0.53.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 47.17%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

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.