SurgoCap Partners LP Invests $119.77 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

SurgoCap Partners LP purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 149,983 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,769,000. Argan makes up 3.9% of SurgoCap Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. SurgoCap Partners LP owned 1.07% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the second quarter worth $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Argan by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth $131,878,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $469.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $628.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $581.86. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.00 and a 1-year high of $805.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.23 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $290.95 million for 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%.Argan’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total value of $15,208,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. The trade was a 32.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. This trade represents a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Company 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.