Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,610 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,896 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Argan worth $4,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 14,436.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Argan by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,339,000 after acquiring an additional 11,788 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Argan by 696.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after acquiring an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. CJS Securities raised shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $397.00 price objective on the stock. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of AGX opened at $346.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.84 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $341.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.34. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $400.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.56%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company’s principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.