Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading 6% Higher – What’s Next?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares were up 6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $398.69 and last traded at $393.9120. Approximately 57,276 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 355,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. CJS Securities raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $355.20.

Argan Trading Up 10.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $339.47 and a 200-day moving average of $297.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.58 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total transaction of $328,040.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total transaction of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,175,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 125.3% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,377,000 after buying an additional 6,955 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,772,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 229.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after buying an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.