Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Price Down 6.7% – What’s Next?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price fell 6.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $518.12 and last traded at $516.2230. Approximately 82,815 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 384,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $553.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $639.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $577.77. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.57 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Argan’s payout ratio is 17.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,875,512. This trade represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,764,086,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in Argan by 5.9% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,131,000 after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.