Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Argan, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from five analysts, with one analyst rating the stock as a buy and a price target of $220.25.
• Insider selling activities include CFO Richard H. Deily and Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey, who both sold a significant number of shares, decreasing their holdings by 17.05% and 22.07% respectively.
• Argan recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%, with stockholder payments scheduled for October 31st.

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $220.25.

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Glj Research assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $251.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $1,930,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,406,734.34. This represents a 26.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total value of $732,706.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,157,888.95. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,892 shares of company stock valued at $13,349,949 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Argan by 2,987.5% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 247 shares of the construction company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at $44,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at $71,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 1,116.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded up $8.35 on Monday, hitting $268.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 297,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,932. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $228.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 0.62. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $93.26 and a fifty-two week high of $269.35.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.03%.

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.