Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Invests $1.87 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,431 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 2,950.0% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $3,411,120. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total transaction of $15,208,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,159,379.68. This represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 151,309 shares of company stock valued at $102,366,655 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Trading Down 10.3%

AGX stock opened at $546.72 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $682.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $539.79. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.90 and a 1-year high of $805.75. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.04 and a beta of 0.57.

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, analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.