Wall Street Zen Upgrades Argan (NYSE:AGX) to Buy

Argan (NYSE:AGX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Argan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Freedom Broker raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.00.

Argan Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of AGX opened at $354.82 on Friday. Argan has a 12-month low of $257.62 and a 12-month high of $805.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $569.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $1.12. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The business had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.53 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Argan will post 13.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $131,878,000. SurgoCap Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth $119,769,000. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP bought a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth about $76,262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

Argan, Inc is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance services for the power generation and renewable energy industries. Its work supports the development, construction and improvement of utility-scale energy infrastructure.

Through its subsidiaries, Argan offers engineering and construction management, project development support, procurement, installation, startup and commissioning services. Its projects have included natural gas-fired power plants, solar and other renewable energy facilities, and related industrial and electrical infrastructure.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, procurement and construction services for power generation and renewable energy projects, and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering, project management and construction-related services.