Zacks Research Upgrades Argan (NYSE:AGX) to “Strong-Buy”

Argan (NYSE:AGX) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $748.66 on Wednesday. Argan has a 52 week low of $196.90 and a 52 week high of $791.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.79 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $671.54 and its 200 day moving average is $501.64.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Argan will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total value of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 90,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,539,416.96. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 186,800 shares of company stock valued at $123,296,561. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Argan by 32.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 2.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in Argan by 5.9% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,131,000 after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Argan by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.