River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 373,294 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,109,515 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 373,294 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 8.32% of Argan worth $51,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Argan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 22,904 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 360.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,005 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 14,092 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 180,525 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,447,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.05. The stock had a trading volume of 128,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,999. The firm has a market cap of $795.06 million, a PE ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.83. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.37 and a twelve month high of $62.04.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $164.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.05 million. Argan had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 11.37%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.