Argan (NYSE:AGX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on AGX. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.20.

Argan Trading Down 7.2%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $354.06 on Tuesday. Argan has a 12-month low of $101.02 and a 12-month high of $400.00. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.70 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $340.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.04.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,207 shares in the company, valued at $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock worth $20,182,794. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Argan by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Argan by 3.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,453 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,339,000 after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.