Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the quarter. Argan makes up 0.5% of Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 4.38% of Argan worth $332,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Argan by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 38,595 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $21,020,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,566,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Argan by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,090 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Argan by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $16,032,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $566.37 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $668.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $549.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.00 and a 1 year high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly 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 in the previous year, the business earned $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, analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total value of $557,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,550.70. This represents a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total transaction of $15,208,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 40,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. This represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081. 2.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

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.