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

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $470.40.

AGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. The trade was a 26.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 186,800 shares of company stock valued at $123,296,561. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 5.9% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 6.8%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $736.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.72 and a beta of 0.58. Argan has a 12-month low of $196.90 and a 12-month high of $791.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $666.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.94.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.