Prakash Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,060 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Prakash Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,850 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the quarter. Argan accounts for about 0.8% of Prakash Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,665,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $286,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,995,462.31. This represents a 19.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,491 shares of company stock worth $30,081,106. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $609.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $489.97 and its 200-day moving average is $385.56. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.07 and a 52 week high of $620.00. The firm has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.58 and a beta of 0.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.