American Century Companies Inc. Raises Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Argan, Inc. by 7.6%, owning 3.79% of the company, which is valued at approximately $67.86 million.
• Insider trading was observed as Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares, reducing his position by 13.06%, while Director Cynthia Flanders reduced her holding by 5.98% through the sale of 2,000 shares.
• Argan's earnings report showed a robust EPS of $1.60, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.09, supported by a 22.8% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 517,302 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 36,644 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.79% of Argan worth $67,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth $23,064,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 9.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $121,485,000 after purchasing an additional 82,585 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth $9,958,000. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth $10,340,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,621 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.63, for a total transaction of $617,586.23. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,254 shares in the company, valued at $2,180,520.02. This represents a 22.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,604 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.77, for a total value of $389,403.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 7,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,894,091.54. This trade represents a 17.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,564 shares of company stock valued at $21,046,366 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $4.0530 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $222.3430. The company's stock had a trading volume of 258,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18 and a beta of 0.59. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.81 and a 52 week high of $253.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.28.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is currently 21.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Kepler Capital Markets cut Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $202.00.

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.