Altshuler Shaham Ltd Invests $3.86 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired 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 SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,079 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,856,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd owned approximately 0.05% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $55,862,000 after buying an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,687,000 after buying an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $34,647,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,550.70. The trade was a 33.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,257 shares of company stock valued at $84,241,605. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $523.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $663.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $553.89. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.00 and a 52 week high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 45.97 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is 17.57%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Company 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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