Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Stake Lessened by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,075 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,336 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at $91,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Argan by 68.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of AGX stock opened at $158.74 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.69 and a 12-month high of $191.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $150.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.02.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were 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. This represents a 38.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

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.