Argan (NYSE:AGX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Freedom Broker

Argan (NYSE:AGX) was upgraded by research analysts at Freedom Broker from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Argan Stock Up 1.4%

AGX stock opened at $417.52 on Friday. Argan has a twelve month low of $197.00 and a twelve month high of $805.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $572.83 and its 200-day moving average is $583.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03 and a beta of 0.57.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. Argan’s revenue was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Argan will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 in the last quarter. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Argan by 77,552.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,498,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,981,001,000 after purchasing an additional 12,482,809 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth about $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $131,878,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Argan News

Here are the key news stories impacting Argan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lake Street upgraded AGX to Buy from Hold and set a $600 price target, citing improved fundamentals and growth prospects. Based on the referenced price of $417.52, the target implies substantial potential upside. Lake Street upgrades Argan to Buy from Hold
• Positive Sentiment: Argan’s fiscal second-quarter results significantly exceeded expectations. Earnings per share came in at $3.76 versus the $2.64 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $383.98 million compared with expectations of $300.53 million. Revenue increased 61.5% year over year, and the company reported a 15.09% net margin and 38.51% return on equity. Why Argan Stock Just Popped
• Positive Sentiment: Power-segment growth and margin expansion strengthened the outlook. Analysts highlighted approximately 53% Power revenue growth, solid project margins and a backlog of roughly $2.5 billion. Demand tied to electrification, data centers and domestic manufacturing could support continued demand for Argan’s power-infrastructure construction services. Argan Stock Rises on Q2 Earnings and Revenue Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Management pointed to a strong gas-project pipeline and plans to expand capacity, but cautioned that revenue growth may moderate in the near term as project timing and execution affect results. Argan Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

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.