Nicholas Investment Partners LP Takes $11.33 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,190 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,331,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned about 0.10% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,003,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,156,000. SurgoCap Partners LP acquired a new position in Argan during the second quarter worth $119,769,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 129.7% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 17,369 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,870,000 after purchasing an additional 9,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $38,242,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings cut Argan from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Four research 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, Argan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,596 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.31, for a total value of $1,729,740.76. Following the sale, the director owned 23,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,421,078.64. This trade represents a 10.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of Argan 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $58,539,416.96. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Down 6.5%

Argan stock opened at $469.15 on Tuesday. 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 $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 41.23 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $628.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $581.86.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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%.

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.