Insider Selling: Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells $1,350,072.36 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 4,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.53, for a total transaction of $1,350,072.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 60,983 shares in the company, valued at $19,546,880.99. The trade was a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Argan Stock Up 16.4%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $383.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $337.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $278.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.21 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.02 and a 12 month high of $399.30.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Argan by 26.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 151 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 255 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of several research reports. Glj Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

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.