First Trust Advisors LP Buys 327,127 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 14,436.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Argan were worth $72,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 1,116.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,220,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Argan by 696.9% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at $917,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 12.4%

AGX opened at $312.29 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.02 and a 1-year high of $399.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $315.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.32.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Argan’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 23.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total value of $1,911,474.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,897 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,577.83. This represents a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,802 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.73, for a total transaction of $3,242,363.46. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,668,864.82. This represents a 23.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,795 shares of company stock worth $29,401,111. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AGX shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $355.20.

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.