Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Up 8% – Time to Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) rose 8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $139.25 and last traded at $141.24. Approximately 171,938 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 504,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $150.69 and a 200 day moving average of $120.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The company had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Argan by 108.6% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Argan by 76.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Argan by 70.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 15,681 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth approximately $1,373,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Argan by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,905,000 after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.