Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 12,647 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,886 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,647 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $7,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AGX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total transaction of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,834,342.55. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total value of $1,885,080.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,302,380.92. The trade was a 30.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Stock Up 5.8%

AGX opened at $623.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a PE ratio of 54.75 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $644.50 and a 200-day moving average of $476.45. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.82 and a 52 week high of $779.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.