Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler Sells 2,164 Shares

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 2,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.28, for a total transaction of $688,757.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,750,264.60. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded up $3.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $317.87. The stock had a trading volume of 305,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,713. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $335.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.44. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $399.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.Argan’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned 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 $355.20.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Argan by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 151 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 22.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 255 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.