John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Argan by 81.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,408,000 after purchasing an additional 409,948 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Argan by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,905,000 after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 287,246 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Argan by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 186,437 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,549,000 after purchasing an additional 83,039 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Argan by 72.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,586,000 after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AGX. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $130.18 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.15 and a 1-year high of $191.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $149.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.79.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.60 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.38%.

Argan 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.