Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Down 5.1% – Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price dropped 5.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $116.17 and last traded at $119.20. Approximately 38,958 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 452,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Argan Trading Down 7.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.84.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued 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 1.29%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cim LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 419.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 31,371 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,100 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. 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.