Castleark Management LLC Purchases New Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,960 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,759,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $450.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $624.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $582.53. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.00 and a twelve month high of $805.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,052,056.10. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

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.