Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells $7,347,300.00 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total transaction of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock traded down $16.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $363.44. 276,765 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 354,561. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.02 and a 52 week high of $400.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.21.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s payout ratio is 23.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC raised its position in Argan by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 151 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

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.