Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC cut its Argan stake by 70.5% in the first quarter, leaving it with 1,292 shares worth about $704,000.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 beating expectations and revenue rising 50.2% year over year to $290.95 million.
• The company remains a focus for investors and analysts: it announced a quarterly dividend and a $200 million share repurchase program, while the stock has attracted a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $470.40 price target.

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 70.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,292 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,087 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Argan were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGX. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,748,000. Thames Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,228,000 after acquiring an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,574,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Argan by 279.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,821 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX traded down $50.53 on Tuesday, hitting $674.70. 19,541 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,508. The business's fifty day moving average is $689.69 and its 200 day moving average is $522.65. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.90 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.17 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at $58,539,416.96. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 179,663 shares of company stock worth $119,410,408 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

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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