Insider Selling: Argan (NYSE:AGX) CEO Sells 1,880 Shares of Stock

by · The Markets Daily

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGXGet Free Report) CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total transaction of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,297,536.75. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

David Hibbert Watson also recently made the following trade(s):

  • On Monday, June 15th, David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total transaction of $6,507,641.46.
  • On Friday, April 17th, David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total transaction of $11,626,744.10.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX traded up $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $690.38. 382,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,659. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $779.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $648.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.56. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGXGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Get Our Latest Research Report on AGX

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Argan by 2.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in Argan by 5.9% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Argan by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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