Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $2.22 Million Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,085 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $2,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $11,175,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $971,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $680.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.90 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $543.96 and its 200-day moving average is $415.32. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $168.26 and a one year high of $742.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.Argan’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Argan announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on 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 Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.40.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This trade represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total value of $1,793,738.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,329,680. This represents a 57.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.