Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 66,901 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 577,938 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 66,901 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 4.26% of Argan worth $79,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $4,195,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $178,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1,567.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $389,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Lake Street Capital raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total transaction of $725,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,264.88. This represents a 30.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $153.31 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.03 and a 52 week high of $191.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07 and a beta of 0.45.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $232.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Argan’s payout ratio is 24.55%.

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.