Argan (NYSE:AGX) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $184.50 and last traded at $182.72, with a volume of 3169 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $177.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AGX. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.71 and a 200-day moving average of $114.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.38%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,949,099.68. This represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 68.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Argan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.