William Leimkuhler Sells 200 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director William Leimkuhler sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.47, for a total value of $67,494.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,723. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $316.06 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $399.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $330.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.75. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23 and a beta of 0.60.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 70,186 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,796 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in Argan by 203.3% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,584 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Argan in the first quarter worth $109,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 810.0% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 69,184 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after buying an additional 61,581 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,452,000 after buying an additional 12,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. CJS Securities raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $397.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

About Argan

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company’s principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.