Argan (NYSE:AGX) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $793.17 and last traded at $789.45, with a volume of 219165 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $765.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Trading Down 4.2%

The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.20 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $682.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $511.28.

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 return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,244 shares of company stock valued at $120,837,004. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth $2,748,000. Alpine Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $16,203,000. Thames Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,228,000 after buying an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth $5,574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.