Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 50.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,258 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,467 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $3,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 2,950.0% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of 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 note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Argan Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $612.17 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.90 and a 52-week high of $805.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $685.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $538.22. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.57%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total transaction of $15,208,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 40,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. This trade represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction 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 $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 170,619 shares of company stock valued at $113,993,399. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.