William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $24.47 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 30,642 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,469,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Argan in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Argan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $504.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.00 and a 1 year high of $805.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $633.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $579.65.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.57%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,596 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.31, for a total value of $1,729,740.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,421,078.64. This trade represents a 10.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,052,056.10. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.