Jupiter Topco LLC Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,932 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,697,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,764,086,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $478,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,728,000. Thames Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,228,000 after buying an additional 10,411 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,574,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Trading Down 8.7%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $419.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $606.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $582.92. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.00 and a 1-year high of $805.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total transaction of $1,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $3,411,120. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828 in the last ninety days. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.