Penserra Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,981 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 2,987.5% in the first 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 during the period. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $170,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth $109,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Argan by 16,640.0% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total value of $4,079,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,758.88. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the sale, the director owned 9,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group set a $315.00 target price on Argan in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $311.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $268.69 and a 200-day moving average of $229.48. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $331.01. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

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.