Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 102,221 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 373.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,568 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 102,221 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.94% of Argan worth $34,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Argan in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 1,116.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AGX. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan Stock Down 4.0%

AGX opened at $413.14 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.66 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $469.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.15.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its 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 return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were given 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 currently 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total transaction of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total value of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 55,915 shares of company stock valued at $20,182,794 over the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.