Argan, Inc. $AGX Stock Sold by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,544 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,822 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $8,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in Argan by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth about $38,000. 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE AGX traded down $5.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $398.88. 336,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,434. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $460.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $575.10. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $255.60 and a 52-week high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.53 million. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 22.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Freedom Broker raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $476.67.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.