Emerald Advisers LLC Has $51.89 Million Stock Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Emerald Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 95,272 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Argan makes up about 1.6% of Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $51,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Argan by 2,950.0% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total transaction of $11,626,744.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. This represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,875,512. The trade was a 40.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 171,219 shares of company stock worth $114,356,759 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 4.7%

Argan stock opened at $600.81 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.90 and a 52-week high of $805.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $689.67 and its 200 day moving average is $534.23. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.80 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Argan announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.