Dark Forest Capital Management LP Takes $317,000 Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of 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 firm acquired 4,328 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $623,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 26,358 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in Argan by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 16,754 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in Argan by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 28,724 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 12.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,264 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $100.43 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.74 and a beta of 0.51. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $39.74 and a one year high of $103.00.

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. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.05 million. The firm’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,149,586.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 1,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.36, for a total transaction of $110,095.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,680. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 247,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 98,539 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,385 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

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.