Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $149.23, but opened at $144.70. Argan shares last traded at $136.14, with a volume of 146,884 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Down 12.4 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 42.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The firm’s revenue was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 47.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,631.48. This trade represents a 22.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $962,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Argan in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Argan Company Profile

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.