Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Acquires 8,670 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,478 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,670 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 1.45% of Argan worth $110,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Argan by 2,950.0% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target 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 reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total transaction of $1,793,738.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,680. The trade was a 57.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total value of $32,173,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,539,416.96. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $566.37 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $668.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $549.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77 and a beta of 0.57. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.00 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.