Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 3,341 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 34.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,321 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,341 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 12.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,854 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Argan by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,665,000 after buying an additional 4,196 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $418,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $428.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $375.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.33. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $469.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.52 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,509.76. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.