Argan (NYSE:AGX) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $423.79 and last traded at $421.5910, with a volume of 807738 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $371.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AGX. Glj Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 48.41 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $344.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $300.48.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd 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 of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total value of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 55,915 shares of company stock valued at $20,182,794 over the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Argan by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 185,389 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,086,000 after acquiring an additional 37,060 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $681,000. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Argan by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,018 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.