Thames Capital Management LLC Acquires 10,411 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Thames Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,411 shares during the period. Argan accounts for about 2.4% of Thames Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Thames Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $16,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 69.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 worth $117,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $125,462,000 after purchasing an additional 80,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AGX. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

Argan Stock Down 1.6%

Argan stock opened at $666.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $614.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $456.76. The stock has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $748.50.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.53%.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total value of $1,885,080.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,302,380.92. This represents a 30.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.