Piar LLC Has $1.06 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Piar LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 49.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,950 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Piar LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AGX. Florida Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $309,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,728,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Argan by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 27,500 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,978,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,634,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $188,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Up 9.3%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $678.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $543.41. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 17.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,411,120. This trade represents a 29.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total transaction of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,297,536.75. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 134,105 shares of company stock worth $91,724,081 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.