Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Argan were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,016 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $130.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 0.56. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $191.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.79.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

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.