Next Century Growth Investors LLC Increases Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,491 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned about 0.46% of Argan worth $13,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 6.5% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,354 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of Argan by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 18,599 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Argan by 1.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,184 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Stock Up 4.3%

NYSE AGX opened at $333.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 0.60. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $399.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $317.49 and a 200-day moving average of $257.55.

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

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total transaction of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at $10,668,864.82. This represents a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,467,758.88. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AGX. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Glj Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan 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.