Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Takes $875,000 Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased 6,670 shares of Argan, Inc. valued at approximately $875,000, indicating a growing interest in the construction company's stock.
• Argan reported a $2.50 EPS for the quarter, significantly beating analysts' expectations of $1.99 and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.7%.
• Insider transactions revealed that directors and executives sold over 56,564 shares of Argan stock worth approximately $12.73 million in the last 90 days.

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,670 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $875,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goodlander Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the first quarter valued at $18,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the first quarter valued at $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $121,485,000 after buying an additional 82,585 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the first quarter valued at $9,958,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in Argan by 258.0% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 101,181 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $13,272,000 after buying an additional 72,922 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets lowered Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.00.

Argan Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Argan stock traded down $1.80 on Friday, reaching $230.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 302,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,734. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $223.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.89. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.79 and a 52 week high of $253.79.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Argan's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,621 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.63, for a total value of $617,586.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,180,520.02. The trade was a 22.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,604 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.77, for a total value of $389,403.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 7,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,894,091.54. The trade was a 17.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,836 shares of company stock valued at $6,380,666 over the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Argan 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.