Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $5.57 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 17,791 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Argan by 69.8% during the third 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 last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 172.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $34,647,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $654.99 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.26 and a twelve month high of $748.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $447.70. The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of 67.25 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The business had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.53%.

Argan announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,104,295.78. This trade represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total transaction of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,302,380.92. The trade was a 30.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last three months. 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.