Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 50,605 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 300,379 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Argan were worth $163,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Argan by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 118.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 37.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth approximately $286,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total value of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,297,536.75. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total value of $557,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 151,309 shares of company stock valued at $102,366,655 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $548.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $679.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $539.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.90 and a 1-year high of $805.75.

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

Argan announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan 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.