Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Argan received a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight covering analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $425.40.
• The company posted better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $3.47 versus $1.99 expected and revenue of $262.05 million, up 12.7% year over year.
• Argan’s board authorized a $200 million share repurchase plan, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional investors continue to own a large majority of the stock.

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $425.40.

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. The trade was a 26.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in Argan by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,734,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Argan by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $666.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $614.67 and a 200 day moving average of $456.76. Argan has a 1 year low of $193.82 and a 1 year high of $748.50.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The firm had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Argan will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan's payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

About Argan

Argan, Inc NYSE: AGX is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company's principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.

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