Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $425.40.

Several analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Argan Trading Down 1.6%

Argan stock opened at $666.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $614.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.76. Argan has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $748.50.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Argan will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.53%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This trade represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total transaction of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,894.60. This trade represents a 55.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.