Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Bought by Bearing Point Capital LLC

Key Points

• Bearing Point Capital LLC increased its stake in Argan by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, owning 27,020 shares worth about $8.47 million at quarter-end.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO David Hibbert Watson and Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey both reducing their holdings; insiders sold 64,543 shares worth about $39.1 million over the last three months.
• Argan reported strong results last quarter, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and the company also authorized a $200 million share buyback while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Bearing Point Capital LLC raised its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,020 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Argan comprises about 1.3% of Bearing Point Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Bearing Point Capital LLC owned 0.19% of Argan worth $8,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Argan by 69.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at $34,647,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,894.60. This trade represents a 55.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 over the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Freedom Capital upgraded Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX opened at $666.85 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $614.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $456.76. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $193.82 and a one year high of $748.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

About Argan

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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