Storgate LLC Buys Shares of 1,162 Argan, Inc. $AGX

Storgate LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,162 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,452,000 after buying an additional 12,854 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 2,881 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,665,000 after buying an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total transaction of $1,793,738.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,329,680. This trade represents a 57.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 3.1%

Argan stock opened at $642.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.48 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $645.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $477.61. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.82 and a 1-year high of $779.00.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.