Insider Selling: Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells $625,325.12 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Peter Getsinger sold 2,609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total transaction of $625,325.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,090,913.28. This represents a 16.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $260.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $227.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.81. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $93.26 and a one year high of $268.00.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 18.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Argan by 14,436.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $72,624,000 after buying an additional 327,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Argan by 696.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after buying an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Argan by 1,142.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,597,000 after buying an additional 173,477 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.00.

About Argan

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.