Arizona State Retirement System Takes $258,000 Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,521 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,701,000 after acquiring an additional 12,162 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 2.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 131,987 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Argan by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 112,979 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,266,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Argan by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 26,358 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $89.19 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.74 and a 52-week high of $95.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74 and a beta of 0.51.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.05 million. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 23rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 42.70%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,444.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.23, for a total transaction of $1,176,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 247,719 shares in the company, valued at $17,149,586.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,539 shares of company stock worth $6,341,435. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th.

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.