Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,332 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,551 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,332 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Argan by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Argan by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Argan by 29.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,632,000 after purchasing an additional 68,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Argan by 696.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total transaction of $2,068,917.45. Following the sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,134,246.90. This trade represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,715 shares of company stock worth $19,787,260. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $570.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 58.62 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $429.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $354.37. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $111.16 and a 1 year high of $588.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS.

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.