Spire Wealth Management Makes New $794,000 Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,941 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Argan by 14,436.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,624,000 after acquiring an additional 327,127 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,339,000 after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Argan by 696.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,480,000 after buying an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AGX. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total transaction of $3,093,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,498,626.22. This trade represents a 32.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 200 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.47, for a total value of $67,494.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $303,723. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,288 shares of company stock worth $12,287,886 in the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Down 0.8%

AGX opened at $311.58 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.02 and a 52 week high of $399.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.70 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $335.43 and a 200-day moving average of $274.66.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The business had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

About Argan

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.