Short Interest in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Rises By 38.6%

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 795,305 shares, a growth of 38.6% from the March 15th total of 573,972 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 812,920 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.73, for a total transaction of $1,426,596.13. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,995,462.31. This trade represents a 19.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,509.76. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 53,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,305,955 over the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Argan by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 599,149 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $187,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,683 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,462,000 after purchasing an additional 80,415 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $1.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $605.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 224,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,516. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $377.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.19 and a beta of 0.46. Argan has a 12 month low of $126.07 and a 12 month high of $618.87.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The business had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

Argan announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.