Jane Street Group LLC Decreases Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Jane Street Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 71.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,886 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 46,570 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Argan worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Argan by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,408,000 after acquiring an additional 409,948 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 537,296 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,309,000 after purchasing an additional 38,300 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,905,000 after acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Argan by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,336,000 after acquiring an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Argan by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 43,258 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $143.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $143.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.44 and a 1-year high of $165.33.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.60 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,703 shares of company stock valued at $3,377,544. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan 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.