Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Cynthia Flanders Sells 2,596 Shares

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,596 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.31, for a total transaction of $1,729,740.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,421,078.64. The trade was a 10.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $690.38. The stock had a trading volume of 382,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,659. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.82 and a 1 year high of $779.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $648.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.56. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.