Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,755 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 31,910 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 1.13% of Argan worth $42,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $44,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 255 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Argan by 1,116.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 3,200.0% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $432.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.93 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $351.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.45. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.02 and a 1 year high of $449.90.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total transaction of $4,187,332.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,934,371.85. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.