Panagora Asset Management Inc. Takes $12.59 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 57,099 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,589,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Argan in the 1st quarter worth $667,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 810.0% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after buying an additional 61,581 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Argan in the first quarter worth about $551,000. Delta Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Argan in the first quarter worth about $536,000. Finally, Hartree Partners LP purchased a new stake in Argan in the first quarter worth about $2,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total value of $3,242,363.46. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,834 shares in the company, valued at $10,668,864.82. The trade was a 23.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total transaction of $1,911,474.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. This trade represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price target on Argan in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Glj Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.17.

Argan Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of AGX opened at $358.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.08 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $310.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.59. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.02 and a 52 week high of $399.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The company had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

About Argan

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.