49,204 Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 49,204 Argan shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $39.3 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 79.43% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with Argan receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $437.50 average price target. The company also reported quarterly EPS of $3.76 and revenue of $383.98 million, both ahead of estimates.
• Argan raised its quarterly dividend to $0.70 per share, equivalent to $2.80 annually and a 0.7% yield. Shares opened at $380.19, down 2.5%, well below their 52-week high of $805.75.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 49,204 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $39,292,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.35% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,262,000. Man Group plc purchased a new position in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,786,000. Invst LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,017,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,697,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth approximately $1,567,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Argan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $437.50.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director John Jeffrey, Jr. sold 5,716 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,468,228.12. The trade was a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $380.19 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $240.24 and a 1 year high of $805.75. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $506.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $581.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $1.12. The company had revenue of $383.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.53 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 38.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 61.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 13.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.82%.

About Argan

Argan, Inc is an engineering, procurement and construction company that provides services to the power generation and energy infrastructure industries. The company supports the development, construction, commissioning and maintenance of power facilities, including natural gas-fired power plants, renewable energy projects and energy storage installations.

Argan primarily operates through subsidiaries including Gemma Power Systems, which provides engineering, project management and construction services for power generation projects; The Roberts Company, which performs industrial fabrication, equipment installation and field services; and Atlantic Projects Company, which provides engineering and construction services for power and industrial facilities.

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