Argan, Inc. $AGX Position Increased by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

Key Points

• State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Argan by 279.7% in Q4, owning 2,821 shares valued at about $883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares.
• Argan beat quarterly estimates, reporting $3.47 EPS vs. the $1.99 consensus and revenue of $262.05M (up 12.7% year-over-year), with analysts forecasting $11.44 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The board authorized a $200 million share buyback (up to 2.5% of shares) and declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend ($2.00 annual), while insiders have sold roughly 57,695 shares valued at about $33.4M in the past three months.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 279.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,821 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Argan were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Argan by 26.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 151 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock opened at $650.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 66.76 and a beta of 0.46. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.98 and a 12-month high of $651.99.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The company had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,104,295.78. This represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 57,695 shares of company stock valued at $33,376,380 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AGX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $425.40.

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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