Argan, Inc. $AGX Stake Boosted by CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Argan comprises 1.0% of CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Argan were worth $20,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Argan by 2,950.0% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AGX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total transaction of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 179,663 shares of company stock worth $119,410,408 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AGX opened at $706.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 62.07 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $688.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $519.79. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.90 and a 52-week high of $805.75.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership 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.