Argan (NYSE:AGX) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $163.10 and last traded at $160.27, with a volume of 20588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 49.88 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $123.58 and its 200-day moving average is $91.53.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.17%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. This represents a 22.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total value of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 236,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 in the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Argan by 108.6% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Argan by 283.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,836,000 after acquiring an additional 42,527 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Argan in the second quarter worth approximately $3,166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.