Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 279.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,635 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 10,041 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 108.6% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $379,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 357.3% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 34,639 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 27,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. The trade was a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Argan Stock Down 1.0 %

Argan stock opened at $157.04 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.74 and a 52-week high of $164.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.38 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.53.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.05 million. Argan’s revenue for the quarter 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 47.17%.

About Argan

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.