Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,263 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,481 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Argan by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $680.83 on Monday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.26 and a 12 month high of $742.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $543.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $415.32.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total transaction of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,847 shares in the company, valued at $4,302,380.92. This trade represents a 30.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total value of $1,793,738.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,329,680. The trade was a 57.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Profile

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.