Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Bought by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 134.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,914 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,818 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Argan were worth $2,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,748,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at about $1,728,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,574,000. Finally, Thames Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Argan by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,228,000 after acquiring an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total transaction of $1,398,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,411,120. This trade represents a 29.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total value of $15,208,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. The trade was a 32.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $597.43 on Monday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.00 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.50 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $651.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $567.84.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.57%.

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.