Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 95,305 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 60.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,450 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 95,305 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Argan were worth $19,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Argan by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $125,462,000 after buying an additional 80,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Argan by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $666.85 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.82 and a 52-week high of $748.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $614.67 and a 200 day moving average of $456.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.84, for a total value of $1,793,738.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,329,680. The trade was a 57.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.