Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Down 6.4% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) traded down 6.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $204.40 and last traded at $206.32. 118,220 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 347,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.48.

Specifically, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total value of $732,706.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,157,888.95. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total value of $1,688,316.12. Following the sale, the director owned 50,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,242,711.08. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 4,051 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.25, for a total value of $896,283.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,240 shares in the company, valued at $12,885,600. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th.

Argan Stock Down 8.3%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $193.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. Argan had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 29.61%. The business had revenue of $193.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Argan by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,016 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,566 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $443,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Argan by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 186,437 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,549,000 after buying an additional 83,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth $2,272,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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