Argan (NYSE:AGX) CEO Sells $2,920,900.00 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.09, for a total value of $2,920,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,135,642.54. This represents a 32.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Charles Edwin Iv Collins also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 15th, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total value of $3,093,700.00.
• On Wednesday, September 24th, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.00, for a total transaction of $1,335,000.00.
• On Thursday, September 18th, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 7,500 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $1,930,425.00.
• On Thursday, July 31st, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,225,000.00.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 1,500 shares of Argan stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total transaction of $362,250.00.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $283.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $247.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $101.02 and a one year high of $320.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Argan by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at about $667,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 810.0% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 61,581 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 362.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,969 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at about $551,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Glj Research started coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $251.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.