Deutsche Bank AG Invests $55.84 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 69,921 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,835,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.50% of Argan at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $131,878,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,052,056.10. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total value of $32,173,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $514.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.20 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.00 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $636.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $580.18.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

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.