2,100 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Purchased by AdvisorShares Investments LLC

AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,100 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $667,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 810.0% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after buying an additional 61,581 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 273.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 68,628 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,226,000 after buying an additional 50,230 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Glj Research initiated coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $298.16 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $320.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $258.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.24.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,467,758.88. This represents a 47.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total value of $1,230,201.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,210,883.91. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.