Argan (NYSE:AGX) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

AGX has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings raised Argan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Freedom Broker raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.00.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $345.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.56. Argan has a one year low of $257.62 and a one year high of $805.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $429.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $570.47.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The company had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Argan will post 13.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 15.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total value of $3,313,222.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 320 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gunderson Capital Management LLC now owns 10,702 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,498 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Argan by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 832 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement and construction services primarily to the power-generation and renewable-energy industries. Through its subsidiaries, the company supports the development and construction of energy infrastructure, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable-energy facilities and related industrial projects.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides project development, design, engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning and operations support services.