JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Argan (NYSE:AGX)

Argan (NYSE:AGX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $370.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $315.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.23% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AGX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Glj Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.17.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $358.44 on Monday. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $399.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $310.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total transaction of $1,911,474.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,758.88. The trade was a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock valued at $29,401,111. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Argan during the first quarter worth about $667,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 810.0% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after buying an additional 61,581 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter valued at $536,000. Finally, Hartree Partners LP bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter valued at $2,361,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.