11,884 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC purchased 11,884 Argan shares worth approximately $9.49 million, establishing a new position representing about 0.08% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 79.43% of Argan.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.24 per share and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year and above analyst expectations.
• Insiders have sold 127,973 shares worth approximately $87.6 million over the past three months. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $470.40.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,884 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $9,490,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Argan at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,764,086,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $478,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Argan during the 1st quarter valued at $1,728,000. Thames Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,228,000 after purchasing an additional 10,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $5,574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total value of $557,308.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total transaction of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,091,340. The trade was a 16.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. Insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AGX. Weiss Ratings upgraded Argan from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $419.92 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $197.00 and a one year high of $805.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $606.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $582.92. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc NYSE: AGX is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company's principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.

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