Cardinal Capital Management Lowers Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Cardinal Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 27,080 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,430 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Argan were worth $7,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Argan by 14,436.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 696.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Argan by 1,142.2% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,597,000 after buying an additional 173,477 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Argan by 168.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Argan by 172.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGX. Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target for the company. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.47, for a total transaction of $67,494.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 900 shares in the company, valued at $303,723. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,693 shares of company stock worth $8,905,608. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 6.8%

AGX stock opened at $314.06 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $399.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $335.33 and its 200 day moving average is $273.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.99 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

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

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.