Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Acquired by Anson Funds Management LP

Anson Funds Management LP grew its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,128 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the quarter. Anson Funds Management LP’s holdings in Argan were worth $3,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. City Center Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 11,180.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,640 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,400,000 after buying an additional 5,590 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter worth about $667,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 362.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,969 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AGX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $469,120.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,428 shares in the company, valued at $7,371,751.68. This trade represents a 5.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total transaction of $732,706.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,157,888.95. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,836 shares of company stock worth $6,380,666 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $226.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 0.62. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $86.98 and a one year high of $253.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.16.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The firm had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.03%.

Argan Company Profile

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.