Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,716 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Argan were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 7.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 537,296 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,309,000 after acquiring an additional 38,300 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 31.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 43,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AGX. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $139.33 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.44 and a 1 year high of $165.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $142.51 and a 200-day moving average of $102.83.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,606,257.90. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. This trade represents a 22.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,703 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,494 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.85% 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.