4,785 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,785 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in Argan by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 18,599 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Argan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,067,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Argan by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,521 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,463,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research assumed coverage on Argan in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.20.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $297.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.54. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $320.00.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total transaction of $3,242,363.46. Following the sale, the director owned 38,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,668,864.82. The trade was a 23.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total value of $3,093,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,498,626.22. The trade was a 32.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,520 shares of company stock worth $32,464,470. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan 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.