Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,025 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,103,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,748,000. Thames Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,228,000 after acquiring an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,574,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Stock Down 10.3%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $546.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $682.41 and a 200-day moving average of $539.79. The company has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.90 and a 52 week high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total transaction of $3,350,497.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,052,056.10. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,309 shares of company stock worth $102,366,655. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Profile

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.