Gunderson Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Gunderson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,326 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,079,000. Argan accounts for 2.1% of Gunderson Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AGX. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total transaction of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $28,297,536.75. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,084,550.70. This represents a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 186,800 shares of company stock worth $123,296,561. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AGX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $764.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.14 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.90 and a fifty-two week high of $791.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $674.70 and a 200-day moving average of $503.48.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.57%.

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.