Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $470.40.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total transaction of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,297,536.75. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 186,800 shares of company stock worth $123,296,561. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $692,000. DV Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $327,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,000. Norris Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,850,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Trading Down 6.8%

Shares of AGX opened at $736.53 on Wednesday. Argan has a twelve month low of $196.90 and a twelve month high of $791.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $666.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 64.72 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Argan will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

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