WCM Investment Management LLC Sells 203,157 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

WCM Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 89.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,016 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 203,157 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $11,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Argan by 2,950.0% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total value of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,539,416.96. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total value of $1,793,738.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,680. The trade was a 57.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock valued at $91,724,081. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $602.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.95 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $678.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $543.41. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.90 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business’s revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

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.