Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. Buys Shares of 91,197 Argan, Inc. $AGX

Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 91,197 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,574,000. Argan makes up about 2.6% of Keystone Investors PTE Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 12.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 118.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 13.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 37.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of AGX opened at $642.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.48 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $645.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $477.61. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.82 and a twelve month high of $779.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,894.60. This trade represents a 55.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at $18,847,215.20. This trade represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Argan 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.