Argan (NYSE:AGX) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Glj Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $321.12 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $320.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.69. Argan has a 1-year low of $101.02 and a 1-year high of $399.30. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director James W. Quinn sold 13,444 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.12, for a total transaction of $3,618,049.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,340,278.40. The trade was a 21.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.09, for a total value of $2,920,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,135,642.54. This trade represents a 32.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 107,795 shares of company stock worth $29,729,151. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 13.2% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Argan by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,485,000 after purchasing an additional 82,585 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Argan by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,958,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 114,839 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,063,000 after buying an additional 5,298 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Company Profile

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.