Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,400 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 940 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Argan by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 16,663 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Argan by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 15,681 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,373,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,687,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 in the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:AGX opened at $137.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 0.56. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.32 and a twelve month high of $191.46.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

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.