Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $476.67

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $476.67.

AGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 2,950.0% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $52,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Trading Down 1.4%

Argan stock opened at $398.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $456.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $574.57. Argan has a 1-year low of $255.60 and a 1-year high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The business had revenue of $383.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.53 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Argan will post 13.72 EPS for the current year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 15.82%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.