Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd Buys Shares of 17,055 Argan, Inc. $AGX

Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 17,055 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,606,000. Argan accounts for about 1.0% of Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd owned about 0.12% of Argan at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the third quarter worth $32,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 22.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 255 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $413.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.66 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $377.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.64. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.02 and a twelve month high of $469.88.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the subject of several research reports. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 55,915 shares of company stock valued at $20,182,794 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.