Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,139 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $910,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $478,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at about $1,764,086,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,748,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,728,000. Finally, Thames Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,228,000 after buying an additional 10,411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AGX opened at $504.36 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $633.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $581.24. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.00 and a 52-week high of $805.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total value of $32,173,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at $58,539,416.96. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total transaction of $3,350,497.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,880 shares in the company, valued at $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Company Profile

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.