Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,980 Argan, Inc. $AGX

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,980 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,775,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Argan by 2.0% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in shares of Argan by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AGX shares. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of AGX opened at $527.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.37 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $638.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $578.99. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.00 and a 52-week high of $805.75.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. This represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.