Argan’s (AGX) “Buy (B)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their buy (b) rating on shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Glj Research assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $251.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.25.

Argan Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $256.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.24. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $283.35.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.03%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $1,930,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at $5,406,734.34. The trade was a 26.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at $10,668,864.82. This trade represents a 23.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,027 shares of company stock valued at $23,954,396. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $270,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Argan by 89.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at about $660,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at about $3,503,000. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.