Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Update

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 132,400 shares, a growth of 94.7% from the March 31st total of 68,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 74,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total value of $166,833.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,608 shares in the company, valued at $470,098.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total transaction of $166,833.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,608 shares in the company, valued at $470,098.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 2,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total value of $154,130.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,606 shares of company stock worth $2,394,182. 11.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGX. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Argan by 68.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,720 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Finally, Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

Argan Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Argan stock traded up $0.77 on Friday, reaching $61.98. 51,705 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 115,998. Argan has a twelve month low of $37.37 and a twelve month high of $62.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $820.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.67.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.14. Argan had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 5.64%. The firm had revenue of $164.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 50.21%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.