Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,474 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,058 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Argan worth $2,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,059 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Argan by 0.3% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,521 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,463,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.80.

Argan Trading Up 7.4%

Argan stock opened at $334.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.02 and a twelve month high of $340.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.79.

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 return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.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 firm posted $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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total value of $4,079,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,758.88. This trade represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 4,441 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.01, for a total transaction of $1,230,201.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 47,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,210,883.91. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock valued at $29,401,111. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.