Palogic Value Management L.P. Purchases New Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Palogic Value Management L.P. purchased a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,800 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,236,000. Argan makes up 0.7% of Palogic Value Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its holdings in Argan by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Argan by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter worth $25,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $455.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $618.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $583.32. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.00 and a 52-week high of $805.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total transaction of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

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.