Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells $1,803,900.00 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 20th, John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,700 shares of Argan stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.60, for a total value of $1,027,620.00.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $346.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $400.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $341.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.80.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,676,000. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $229,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $2,748,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $478,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AGX shares. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised 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 shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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 report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.20.

Argan Company Profile

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.