7,561 Shares in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Bought by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,561 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $992,000. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.06% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Argan by 2,987.5% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 247 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 419.4% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Argan by 1,123.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 416 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $138,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 12.7% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,553,970. This represents a 25.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,589,882.34. The trade was 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 worth $21,046,366 in the last ninety days. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Argan Trading Down 0.5%

AGX traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $223.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,538. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $218.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.36. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.81 and a 52-week high of $253.79.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Argan's payout ratio is 21.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $202.00.

Argan 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.