Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Takes $1.08 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,080,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Argan during the third quarter valued at $55,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Argan by 22.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 255 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth $71,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 1,116.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $421.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 49.66 and a beta of 0.63. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $423.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $340.85 and its 200 day moving average is $298.44.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target for the company. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total transaction of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. The trade was a 42.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total transaction of $4,187,332.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,934,371.85. This trade represents a 18.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan 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.