Piar LLC Has $1.06 Million Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Piar LLC reduced its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 49.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,950 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Piar LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 599,149 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $187,725,000 after buying an additional 39,683 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $137,503,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Argan by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,462,000 after buying an additional 80,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Argan by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,728,000 after acquiring an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AGX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Argan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Trading Up 9.3%

NYSE AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The firm 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 moving average price is $678.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $543.41. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.90 and a 1 year high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Argan announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,091,340. This trade represents a 16.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,880 shares in the company, valued at $3,411,120. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan 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.