Sapient Capital LLC Trims Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,263 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,057 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC owned 0.37% of Argan worth $16,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 69.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 29.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,632,000 after purchasing an additional 68,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.40.

Argan Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $719.34 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $574.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $433.03. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.63 and a 52-week high of $748.50. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.85 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

Argan announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This trade represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.