William Leimkuhler Sells 8,444 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $604.00 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.07 and a 1 year high of $618.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $469.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $376.18. The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is 20.53%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Argan by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 599,149 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $187,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,683 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $137,503,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,462,000 after purchasing an additional 80,415 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AGX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.40.

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.