Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Grows Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,541 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,613 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.81% of Argan worth $15,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Argan by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,900 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Argan by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,078 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,260,000 after buying an additional 4,341 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $1,204,000. Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,340,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth $138,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Lake Street Capital upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total transaction of $725,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,264.88. This represents a 30.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of AGX stock traded up $5.46 on Thursday, hitting $158.59. 369,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,113. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $60.03 and a one year high of $191.46. The firm's 50 day moving average is $130.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.45.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.07. The business had revenue of $232.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm's revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

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.