Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading 8% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shot up 8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $139.25 and last traded at $141.24. 171,938 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 504,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AGX. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.60 and a 200-day moving average of $120.82.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. This trade represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Argan by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 1.8% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.