Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 88.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 623 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,840 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $216,728,000 after acquiring an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Argan by 1.1% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 27,500 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new position in Argan in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,634,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $603.81 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $805.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $676.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $545.45. The stock has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.06 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AGX. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total value of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,297,536.75. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total transaction of $1,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,411,120. This trade represents a 29.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 134,105 shares of company stock worth $91,724,081 over the last 90 days. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.