IKE Capital LLC Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

IKE Capital LLC acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,855 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the second quarter valued at $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at $131,878,000. SurgoCap Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $119,769,000. Finally, Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,262,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AGX. Piper Sandler started 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 raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $437.50.

Argan Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AGX stock traded up $4.29 on Wednesday, reaching $393.03. 370,332 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,419. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $235.60 and a 52 week high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $526.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $583.47.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.53 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The business’s revenue was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 13.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $725.85, for a total value of $21,775,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 60,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,259,429.60. The trade was a 32.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,716 shares of company stock worth $40,297,322. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Argan

Argan, Inc is an engineering, procurement and construction company that provides services to the power generation and energy infrastructure industries. The company supports the development, construction, commissioning and maintenance of power facilities, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable energy projects and energy storage installations.

Argan primarily operates through subsidiaries including Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, project management and construction services for power generation projects; The Roberts Company, which performs industrial fabrication, equipment installation and field services; and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering and construction services for power and industrial facilities.