Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Invests $1.82 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,350 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,824,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 2,950.0% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 170,619 shares of company stock worth $113,993,399. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $612.17 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.90 and a 52 week high of $805.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $685.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $538.22. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AGX. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on shares of 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 raised their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Company Profile

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.