Palisades Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Palisades Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,820 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Argan by 6.5% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,354 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its position in Argan by 2.6% during the third quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Argan by 8.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,592 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Argan by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,275 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. Glj Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, December 1st. CJS Securities upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.20.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $363.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.81 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $340.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.28. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $400.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.60, for a total transaction of $1,027,620.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,020,875.20. This represents a 16.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total transaction of $7,347,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. This trade represents a 42.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,915 shares of company stock worth $18,378,894. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

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.