4,426 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Bought by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,426 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 14,436.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Argan by 696.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Argan by 1,142.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,597,000 after purchasing an additional 173,477 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Argan by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total value of $4,187,332.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,934,371.85. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. CJS Securities raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Argan Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $353.48 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $400.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.63 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.39.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.56%.

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.