Legato Capital Management LLC Has $10.62 Million Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,478 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 8,082 shares during the period. Argan makes up about 1.4% of Legato Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Legato Capital Management LLC owned 0.57% of Argan worth $10,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Argan by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,408,000 after acquiring an additional 409,948 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $6,687,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $8,241,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 72.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,586,000 after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Argan by 283.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,836,000 after buying an additional 42,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total value of $124,192.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,977,037.48. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 in the last three months. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $151.01 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $44.69 and a one year high of $191.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AGX. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.