Argan (NYSE:AGX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Argan's stock rating was upgraded from "hold" to "strong-buy" by Zacks Research, indicating increased analyst confidence in the company's future performance.
• The company reported earnings of $2.50 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, while revenues saw a year-over-year increase of 4.7%.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Argan, with First Trust Advisors raising its position by over 14,436% in the recent quarter.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Glj Research initiated coverage on Argan in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $251.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $311.81 on Tuesday. Argan has a 1-year low of $101.02 and a 1-year high of $313.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $245.41 and a 200-day moving average of $208.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.48 and a beta of 0.64.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.The company had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.96, for a total transaction of $4,079,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,467,758.88. This represents a 47.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.09, for a total value of $2,920,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,135,642.54. The trade was a 32.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,027 shares of company stock valued at $26,875,296 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Argan by 14,436.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 329,393 shares of the construction company's stock worth $72,624,000 after purchasing an additional 327,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Argan by 696.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 296,988 shares of the construction company's stock worth $65,480,000 after purchasing an additional 259,720 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Argan by 1,142.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,665 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,597,000 after purchasing an additional 173,477 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Argan by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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