VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,500 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 14,436.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Argan by 696.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Argan by 1,142.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,597,000 after buying an additional 173,477 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $339.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.02 and a 52-week high of $399.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $333.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.91.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.56%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.39, for a total transaction of $1,911,474.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,577.83. This represents a 39.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.04, for a total value of $328,040.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,693 shares of company stock worth $14,367,409. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered 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 report on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Argan Company Profile

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.