Seizert Capital Partners LLC Sells 2,483 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 59.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,679 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,483 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $261,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,457,000. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $486,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 357.3% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 34,639 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after buying an additional 27,064 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of AGX opened at $126.13 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.97 and a 12-month high of $191.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.00 and its 200 day moving average is $129.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

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.