AQR Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 33.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,618 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 83,646 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.27% of Argan worth $12,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at $95,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 3,321.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $962,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of Argan 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 247,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,539 shares of company stock worth $7,785,385 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $100.91 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.74 and a 1 year high of $103.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.91 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.73.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 53.38%.

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.