Argan, Inc. $AGX Stock Holdings Boosted by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares during the period. Argan accounts for about 2.9% of Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned approximately 3.33% of Argan worth $253,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 2,950.0% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter worth $54,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,411,120. This trade represents a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 125,607 shares of company stock valued at $86,347,388. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $540.24 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.00 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.47 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $666.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $552.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

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.