Argan (NYSE:AGX) CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins Sells 11,068 Shares of Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. The trade was a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Charles Edwin Iv Collins also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 20th, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 2,500 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.00, for a total value of $1,525,000.00.

Argan Trading Up 5.7%

NYSE:AGX opened at $650.28 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.98 and a 1 year high of $651.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.76 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $499.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $389.88.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The firm had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Argan by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 599,149 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,683 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $137,503,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $125,462,000 after acquiring an additional 80,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

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.