SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,411 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Argan by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 16,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Argan by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 28,724 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,264 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Argan by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,426 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,701,000 after buying an additional 12,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $129.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 46.01 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.72. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.74 and a 1-year high of $129.98.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 15,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total transaction of $1,177,273.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,449,830.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 15,134 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total transaction of $1,177,273.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,449,830.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,539 shares of company stock valued at $4,820,475 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.85% 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.