John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey Sells 5,716 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $604.08 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $654.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.00 and a 52 week high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at about $643,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $275,000. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,078,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 149.9% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. 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 note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

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.