Cerity Partners LLC Has $795,000 Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 49.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,059 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Argan were worth $795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,250 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 5.5%

AGX traded up $12.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $236.60. The stock had a trading volume of 528,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,594. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.53 and a 12 month high of $246.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.42.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is 21.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $202.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.92, for a total value of $8,316,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $3,442,531.44. This trade represents a 70.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total transaction of $732,706.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,895 shares in the company, valued at $3,157,888.95. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock worth $18,221,387. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Argan

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.