New York State Teachers Retirement System Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,135 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azarias Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Argan by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 180,525 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,447,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 116,613 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 13,431 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,918 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,904 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 171.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 12,186 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on shares of Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th.

Argan Stock Up 1.3 %

Argan stock opened at $61.81 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.37 and a 12-month high of $62.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.04 and its 200 day moving average is $47.14. The company has a market capitalization of $818.36 million, a PE ratio of 25.86 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.14. Argan had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $164.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.46) EPS. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Argan’s payout ratio is 50.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 13,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.17, for a total transaction of $790,814.31. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,197 shares in the company, valued at $312,703.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 13,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.17, for a total value of $790,814.31. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,703.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 6,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.15, for a total transaction of $382,554.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $500,512.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,399 shares of company stock worth $2,073,219. Insiders own 11.53% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.