Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Alkeon Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Alkeon Capital Management cut its Argan stake by 9.3% in Q4, selling 11,155 shares and leaving it with 108,845 shares valued at about $34.1 million.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 beating estimates by $0.93 and revenue of $290.95 million topping expectations; revenue jumped 50.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a $200 million share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $470.40 price target.

Alkeon Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,845 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 11,155 shares during the quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.78% of Argan worth $34,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Argan by 26.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company's stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company's stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its position in Argan by 3.1% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $630.58, for a total transaction of $220,703.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 350 shares of the company's stock, valued at $220,703. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.88, for a total value of $495,904.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,940. This represents a 61.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Up 7.2%

AGX stock opened at $687.65 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $648.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.56. The stock has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.43 and a beta of 0.59. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.82 and a 52-week high of $779.00.

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

Argan declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.57%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.