Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives $355.20 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $355.20.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AGX. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total value of $3,093,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,498,626.22. This trade represents a 32.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,668,864.82. The trade was a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth about $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Argan by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $320.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $316.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.63. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80 and a beta of 0.60. Argan has a 1 year low of $101.02 and a 1 year high of $399.30.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

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.