Argan (NYSE:AGX) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $133.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.82 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.20. Argan has a 1 year low of $39.74 and a 1 year high of $135.85.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 47.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan 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 transaction, the director now owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at $28,606,257.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $962,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 over the last three months. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,336,000 after buying an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,245,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter worth $4,783,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the second quarter worth $3,168,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $3,166,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% 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.