McIlrath & Eck LLC Raises Stock Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 419.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 374 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Amundi increased its position in shares of Argan by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Argan by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Argan by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,763 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,565 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.32, for a total transaction of $238,380.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,400.64. The trade was a 16.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,292 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.35, for a total value of $344,602.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,325. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,857 shares of company stock worth $1,308,133 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th.

Argan Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $192.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36 and a beta of 0.42. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.53 and a 12 month high of $197.63.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.07. The company had revenue of $232.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

Argan 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.