Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $355.20.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AGX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price for the company. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th.

Argan Stock Down 2.9%

AGX stock opened at $321.12 on Friday. Argan has a twelve month low of $101.02 and a twelve month high of $399.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.35.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. Argan had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.37, for a total value of $3,093,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,498,626.22. The trade was a 32.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,577.83. The trade was a 39.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 107,795 shares of company stock worth $29,729,151. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,485,000 after acquiring an additional 82,585 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Argan by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Argan by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 517,302 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $67,855,000 after purchasing an additional 36,644 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,514,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.