Deutsche Bank AG Sells 66,291 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG has significantly reduced its holdings in Argan, Inc. by 85.6% in the first quarter, after selling over 66,000 shares, leaving it with 11,169 shares valued at approximately $1.47 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Argan, with GAMMA Investing LLC notably raising its position by 11,180%, acquiring 5,640 shares valued at about $7.4 million.
• Argan recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.60, exceeding estimates by $0.51, alongside a dividend payout of $0.375 per share, resulting in a 0.7% yield.

Deutsche Bank AG lowered its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 85.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,169 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 66,291 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.08% of Argan worth $1,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $121,485,000 after buying an additional 82,585 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 6.9% during the first quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,995 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan during the first quarter worth $3,969,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Argan by 86.2% during the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 2,756 shares of the construction company's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Argan during the first quarter worth $854,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX traded up $15.37 on Thursday, hitting $242.24. The stock had a trading volume of 493,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,377. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.81 and a twelve month high of $253.79. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $220.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is currently 21.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,553,970. The trade was a 25.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total value of $3,041,850.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 196,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,589,882.34. This represents a 6.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,564 shares of company stock valued at $21,046,366 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Argan Company 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.