Argan (NYSE:AGX) Sets New 12-Month High at $97.00

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $97.00 and last traded at $96.15, with a volume of 72625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital raised 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 lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th.

Argan Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $77.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83 and a beta of 0.51.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $227.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 42.70%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Argan in the 2nd quarter worth about $878,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 32.8% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after buying an additional 43,258 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $293,000. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Argan during the second quarter worth approximately $1,273,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $623,000. Institutional investors 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.