Peter Getsinger Sells 6,595 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Peter Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total transaction of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,682.37. The trade was a 45.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX traded down $2.40 on Friday, reaching $311.58. 300,181 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 310,817. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $399.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $335.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.24.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The business had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 23.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Argan by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,339,000 after acquiring an additional 11,788 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,632,000 after acquiring an additional 68,689 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.