Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 15,302 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,268 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 15,302 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.32% of Argan worth $3,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,701,000 after acquiring an additional 12,162 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 31.8% during the 2nd 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. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 32.8% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 43,258 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 112,979 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,266,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Argan by 1.2% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $1,788,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,590,472.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $1,788,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,916 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,472.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.23, for a total value of $1,176,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 247,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,039 shares of company stock worth $6,688,430 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 0.51. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.74 and a 12 month high of $95.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.77.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.05 million. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.70%.

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.