Savant Capital LLC Reduces Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Savant Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 93.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 853 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,314 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Argan by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Argan by 26.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total transaction of $11,626,744.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. This trade represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,215.20. The trade was a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $695.56 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $193.82 and a one year high of $779.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $636.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $468.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.12 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.97. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 37.94%. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Argan announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Argan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argan beat expectations with first-quarter earnings of $3.24 per share versus $2.27 expected, while revenue of $290.95 million also topped estimates. Revenue rose 50.2% year over year, highlighting continued strength in the company’s power-project construction business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Argan expects to add new projects over the next 10 to 18 months, reinforcing investor confidence in its backlog-driven growth outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The board increased the share repurchase authorization to $200 million, which can support earnings per share and signals confidence in the company’s cash generation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary also pointed to a strong power-project backlog and record quarterly results, suggesting the company is benefiting from demand tied to AI/data-center power needs and broader electrification trends. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several earnings-call transcripts and presentation posts largely reiterate the same quarterly results and management commentary, adding context but not materially changing the investment story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage also notes the stock had already rallied ahead of earnings, so part of the move may reflect investors positioning for strong results and shareholder returns. Article Title

About Argan

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.