L & S Advisors Inc Sells 5,682 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,518 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,682 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc owned about 0.07% of Argan worth $1,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $339,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $2,446,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Argan by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Argan by 21.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP boosted its holdings in Argan by 9.3% during the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 6,872 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,185 shares of company stock worth $1,644,859. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $138.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.85 and a 52-week high of $191.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.07. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $232.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.50 million. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

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.