Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 75.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 477 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Argan by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,701,000 after purchasing an additional 12,162 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Argan by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,656 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Argan by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $397,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE AGX opened at $155.94 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.74 and a 1-year high of $165.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total transaction of $896,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The trade was a 12.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.