Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Down 5.1% – Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares fell 5.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $116.17 and last traded at $119.20. 38,958 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 452,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $148.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 valued at $3,105,359 in the last three months. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in Argan by 108.6% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Argan by 70.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 15,681 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth about $1,373,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Argan by 4.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Penn Mutual Asset Management raised its holdings in Argan by 195.6% during the third quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 10,050 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,650 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.