Argan, Inc. $AGX Holdings Raised by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 599.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,939 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 6,804 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of Argan worth $4,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Argan by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,647,000. Finally, Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total transaction of $1,398,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,411,120. This trade represents a 29.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total value of $1,329,818.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,297,536.75. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 179,663 shares of company stock worth $119,410,408. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $669.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $689.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $527.73. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.90 and a 52 week high of $805.75. The company has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 58.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given 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 is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

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.