Argan (NYSE:AGX) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Lake Street Capital

Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $150.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $85.00.

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

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $149.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.14 and a beta of 0.53. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $39.74 and a fifty-two week high of $165.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $132.36 and a 200-day moving average of $95.90.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 236,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. This represents a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in Argan by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Argan by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp bought a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $395,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Argan by 283.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,836,000 after acquiring an additional 42,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Argan by 279.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,635 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.