Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Down 5.8% – What’s Next?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price traded down 5.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $299.12 and last traded at $301.6750. 133,231 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 415,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Argan Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $325.41 and a 200 day moving average of $263.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total transaction of $1,911,474.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total value of $3,093,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,498,626.22. This trade represents a 32.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 84,399 shares of company stock valued at $23,703,898. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 104.2% in the third quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC now owns 225,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,964,000 after purchasing an additional 115,188 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Argan by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,413 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $382,000. Finally, Ariadne Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% 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.