WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases 126,103 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 169.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,485 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 126,103 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 1.45% of Argan worth $54,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at about $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,175,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 125.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,955 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,772,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 229.3% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AGX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,509.76. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $353.48 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $400.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 41.63 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $341.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.39.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.56%.

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.