52,070 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Acquired by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 52,070 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,360,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at about $343,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Argan by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,085 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $286,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Stock Up 6.9%

Shares of AGX opened at $789.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.41 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $791.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $663.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.23.

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

Argan announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total transaction of $1,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,411,120. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. This trade represents a 33.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 136,800 shares of company stock valued at $86,312,461 in the last 90 days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

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.