Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $509.00

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $509.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Argan from $800.00 to $785.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Argan in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at about $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 2.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,726,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Argan by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Argan by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,728,000 after buying an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $343.34 on Tuesday. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $276.28 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $517.02. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.12. The firm had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.53 million. Argan had a return on equity of 38.51% and a net margin of 15.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Argan will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 22nd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.15%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc is a holding company that provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance services for the power generation and renewable energy industries. Its work supports the development, construction and improvement of utility-scale energy infrastructure.

Through its subsidiaries, Argan offers engineering and construction management, project development support, procurement, installation, startup and commissioning services. Its projects have included natural gas-fired power plants, solar and other renewable energy facilities, and related industrial and electrical infrastructure.

Argan’s principal operating businesses include Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, procurement and construction services for power generation and renewable energy projects, and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering, project management and construction-related services.