Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Up 7.3% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shot up 7.3% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $415.94 and last traded at $416.2050. 257,087 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 388,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $476.67.

Argan Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $460.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $575.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $1.12. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%.The business had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 13.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 15.82%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the sale, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 2,950.0% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Argan

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.