Karen Sweeney Sells 300 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. The trade was a 16.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Argan Stock Up 2.6%

AGX opened at $738.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 64.89 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $656.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $487.55. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.82 and a 52 week high of $779.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 17.57%.

Argan declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth about $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter worth about $35,629,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Key Headlines Impacting Argan

Here are the key news stories impacting Argan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argan’s recent quarterly results were excellent, with EPS of $3.24 beating estimates by a wide margin and revenue rising 50.2% year over year, reinforcing confidence in the company’s execution and profitability. Argan earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Argan’s backlog as 79% gas-focused and tied to rising power demand from data centers, electrification, and reshoring, which supports the view that project demand remains strong. Zacks backlog article
• Neutral Sentiment: The company has a $200 million share repurchase authorization and recently declared a quarterly dividend, both of which can support the stock, but they are longer-term capital-return factors rather than immediate catalysts. Argan capital return details
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders, including CEO David Hibbert Watson, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher, and directors Peter W. Getsinger and Karen Sweeney, sold shares this week, and clustered insider selling can weigh on investor sentiment. Insider selling alert

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.