7,709 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,709 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,156,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,878,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $419.92 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $606.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $584.42. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.00 and a 1-year high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.31, for a total value of $1,729,740.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,421,078.64. The trade was a 10.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

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.