Independent Advisor Alliance Lowers Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,408 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,425 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Argan were worth $6,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total transaction of $5,053,649.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $681.28 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $557.88 and its 200 day moving average is $423.80. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.59 and a 1 year high of $742.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.95 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

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.