William Griffin, Jr. Sells 30,000 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 30,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $725.85, for a total transaction of $21,775,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 60,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,259,429.60. This trade represents a 32.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Argan Stock Down 0.9%

AGX opened at $730.23 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.90 and a 52-week high of $791.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $668.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $498.57. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.17 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 32.1% during 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 2.1% during 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 last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.