Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $11.83 Million Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,045 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,583 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.43% of Argan worth $11,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AGX. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 362.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,969 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Argan by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in Argan by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 69,394 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,585,000 after purchasing an additional 10,074 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Argan by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.09, for a total value of $2,920,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,135,642.54. This trade represents a 32.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 38,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,668,864.82. The trade was a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,027 shares of company stock valued at $29,968,996. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Glj Research assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Argan Trading Down 4.4%

AGX stock opened at $283.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.58. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.02 and a 1-year high of $320.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04 and a beta of 0.64.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The firm had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 18.03%.

About Argan

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.