Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Key Points

• Argan, Inc. has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.50 per share, a 33.3% increase from the previous dividend of $0.38.
• The company's earnings report revealed an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.50, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.99, with a revenue of $237.74 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and target prices ranging from $210.00 to $260.00.

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the construction company on Friday, October 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This is a 33.3% increase from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Argan has a dividend payout ratio of 20.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock traded up $11.66 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $241.97. 154,020 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 432,037. Argan has a 12-month low of $87.79 and a 12-month high of $253.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $223.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.42.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The company had revenue of $237.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Argan's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $210.00.

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.