Joshua Scott Baugher Sells 760 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total value of $557,308.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,084,550.70. This trade represents a 33.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Joshua Scott Baugher also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 16th, Joshua Scott Baugher sold 600 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.60, for a total value of $363,360.00.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $738.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.89 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $659.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $489.31. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.82 and a 1 year high of $779.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire 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.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm 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 payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Argan by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 118.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 13.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Argan by 37.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Argan during the second quarter worth about $286,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company 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.