Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Down 14% – Should You Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares dropped 14% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $276.28 and last traded at $306.5220. Approximately 269,861 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 412,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $356.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AGX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.00.

Argan Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $314.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $254.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. 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 firm earned $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,668,864.82. This trade represents a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. The trade was a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,485,000 after buying an additional 82,585 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,084,000 after acquiring an additional 230,073 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Argan by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 517,302 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $67,855,000 after acquiring an additional 36,644 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Argan by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.