Argan, Inc. (AGX) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 23rd

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the construction company on Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd.

Argan has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Argan has a payout ratio of 27.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Argan to earn $16.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.0%.

Argan Trading Up 9.3%

Shares of AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $678.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $543.41. Argan has a 12 month low of $196.90 and a 12 month high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Argan will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Argan

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.