Jennison Associates LLC Trims Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 16.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,520 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 16,577 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.61% of Argan worth $46,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Up 9.3%

AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.90 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $678.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $543.41.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. Argan’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given 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 target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total value of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total value of $1,793,738.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,329,680. The trade was a 57.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock worth $91,724,081. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.