Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler Sells 11,802 Shares of Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total transaction of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,668,864.82. The trade was a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Argan Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $278.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.20 and a fifty-two week high of $279.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.22.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Glj Research began coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Argan by 9.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,485,000 after purchasing an additional 82,585 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Argan by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 517,302 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,855,000 after buying an additional 36,644 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 14,436.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,624,000 after acquiring an additional 327,127 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,339,000 after acquiring an additional 11,788 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.