Handelsbanken Fonder AB Invests $1.47 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,473,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $971,000. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,629,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $478,000. Alpine Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,203,000. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $654.99 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.26 and a 1 year high of $748.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $598.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $447.70. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.25 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.Argan’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s payout ratio is 20.53%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. The trade was a 26.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by 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.