Vontobel Holding Ltd. Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,468 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 2,987.5% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 247 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at about $109,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Argan by 16,640.0% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $170,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $299.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 36.01 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.20. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $301.31.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $237.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 18.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James W. Quinn sold 13,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.12, for a total transaction of $3,618,049.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,340,278.40. This trade represents a 21.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total transaction of $1,230,201.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 47,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,210,883.91. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 91,027 shares of company stock valued at $23,954,396. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday. Finally, Glj Research initiated coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.20.

Argan Profile

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.