Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Stock Has Average Target Price of $476.67 According to Analysts

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $476.67.

AGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Argan by 704.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 18,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,787,000 after purchasing an additional 16,214 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,764,086,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,156,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,292,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new position in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $419.66 on Friday. Argan has a 1 year low of $255.60 and a 1 year high of $805.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $575.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Argan will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Argan’s payout ratio is 15.82%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.