Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Up 6% – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s share price shot up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $398.69 and last traded at $393.9120. 57,276 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 355,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, December 1st. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, CJS Securities raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.41 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $344.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.48.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total transaction of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,461,682.37. This represents a 45.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,509.76. This trade represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 185,389 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,086,000 after buying an additional 37,060 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $681,000. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Argan by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,018 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.