Ring Mountain Capital LLC Invests $297,000 in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,262 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $23,064,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $92,170,000 after buying an additional 116,783 shares during the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 286.8% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 117,384 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,086,000 after buying an additional 87,038 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,475,000 after buying an additional 80,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,340,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded up $3.05 on Friday, hitting $206.89. 592,893 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,349. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.53 and a 52 week high of $246.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.98.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Argan's payout ratio is 21.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AGX. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital lifted 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.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 14,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,157,888.95. The trade was a 18.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.92, for a total transaction of $8,316,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,442,531.44. The trade was a 70.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,404 shares of company stock worth $18,221,387 in the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.