Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Takes $539,000 Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGXFree Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 990 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AGX. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Argan by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,260 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Argan during the first quarter valued at about $3,377,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 10.5% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at about $113,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AGX

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $612.17 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $805.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $685.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $538.22.

Argan (NYSE:AGXGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,104,295.78. This represents a 27.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 170,619 shares of company stock valued at $113,993,399 in the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Profile

(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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGXFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Argan (NYSE:AGX)

Receive News & Ratings for Argan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Argan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.