Pacer Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 86,201 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,307,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $333,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,220,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 138.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 26,142 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after acquiring an additional 15,167 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Argan by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 843,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $115,605,000 after acquiring an additional 16,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total transaction of $732,706.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,157,888.95. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total transaction of $1,688,316.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,242,711.08. This represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock worth $18,221,387. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $236.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $211.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.53 and a 1 year high of $246.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $193.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.75 million. Argan had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 11.00%. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 21.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $202.00.

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.