Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Down 8.6% – Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGXGet Free Report)’s stock price fell 8.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $648.10 and last traded at $635.0090. 80,165 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 406,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $694.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AGX

Argan Trading Down 1.3%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $641.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.75 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGXGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,894.60. This represents a 55.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in shares of Argan by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,734,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Argan by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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