Argan, Inc. $AGX Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 21.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,584 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 6,322 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.16% of Argan worth $18,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth about $1,764,086,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company's stock worth $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Argan by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,010,000 after purchasing an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $332,726,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $419.92 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $606.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.42. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $197.00 and a one year high of $805.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Argan from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Four 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,548 shares in the company, valued at $1,091,340. This represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the sale, the director owned 2,533 shares in the company, valued at $1,468,228.12. This trade represents a 69.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan 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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