Perigon Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,092 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $131,878,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,875,512. The trade was a 40.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,052,056.10. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $552.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $639.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $577.77. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.53 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.00 and a 1-year high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

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.