Leavell Investment Management Inc. Purchases 800 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,800 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in Argan by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 51,393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,043,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth $272,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth $8,241,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in Argan by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $148.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.49. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.93 and a 1 year high of $191.46.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. This trade represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, 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 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan 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.