Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 14,385 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its Argan stake by 53.1% in Q4, selling 14,385 shares and leaving 12,725 shares worth about $3.99 million after the filing.
• Company insiders sold a total of 57,695 shares valued at $33.38 million in the last quarter (insiders now own 6.69% of the stock), including director sales that materially reduced their holdings.
• Argan reported a strong quarterly beat (EPS $3.47 vs. $1.99 est., revenue up 12.7% YoY) and the board authorized a $200 million buyback (up to 2.5% of shares) while declaring a $0.50 quarterly dividend.

Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 53.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,725 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 14,385 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Argan worth $3,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGX. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $34,647,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total transaction of $1,803,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,509.76. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,695 shares of company stock valued at $33,376,380. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. 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 raised their price target on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $425.40.

Argan Trading Up 0.5%

AGX stock opened at $656.06 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $509.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $396.14. The firm has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a PE ratio of 67.36 and a beta of 0.46. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.97 and a 1-year high of $683.12.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Argan's payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

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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