AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership Acquires Shares of 2,565 Argan, Inc. $AGX

AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership bought a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,565 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Sapient Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 6.4% during the third quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 52,320 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,180,000 after buying an additional 3,160 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Argan by 29.1% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $324.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $328.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.37. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $399.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be paid 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 is presently 23.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 directly owned 49,570 shares in the company, valued at $13,340,278.40. The trade was a 21.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,739 shares of company stock valued at $21,160,327. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.