Delta Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Delta Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,995 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Goodlander Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,485,000 after purchasing an additional 82,585 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,958,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 258.0% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 101,181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,272,000 after purchasing an additional 72,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $297.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $320.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.54.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.97 million. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,758.88. This represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 119,520 shares of company stock valued at $32,464,470. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AGX. Glj Research initiated coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.20.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.