Independent Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,869 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AGX. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,340. The trade was a 16.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 9.3%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.90 and a 1-year high of $805.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $678.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $543.41.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 17.57%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.