Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Falls 10.2% – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price dropped 10.2% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $313.77 and last traded at $312.8280. Approximately 29,810 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 378,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $348.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut Argan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Argan in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $273.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.00.

Argan Trading Down 18.8%

The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $383.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $517.27.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 22nd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth $1,764,086,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 2.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,131,000 after acquiring an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,962 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,728,000 after acquiring an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.