Argan, Inc. $AGX Position Decreased by Van ECK Associates Corp

by · The Markets Daily

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX – Free Report) by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,584 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,322 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Argan were worth $18,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Argan in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Argan

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total transaction of $15,208,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,159,379.68. This trade represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $419.92 on Monday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.00 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $606.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $584.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan Company 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.

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