Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS opened a new position in Argan, buying 3,431 shares worth about $1.87 million in the first quarter.
• Argan reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 versus estimates of $2.31 and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with several analysts raising targets and the stock receiving a Moderate Buy consensus; meanwhile, the company also announced a $200 million share repurchase plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,431 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,869,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Argan by 168.9% during 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. lifted 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 period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,647,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 320.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 153,115 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,349,000 after purchasing an additional 116,657 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.40.

Argan Trading Down 10.3%

NYSE:AGX opened at $546.72 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.90 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $682.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $539.79.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is 17.57%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.41, for a total transaction of $3,087,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,495 shares in the company, valued at $22,532,377.95. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,309 shares of company stock valued at $102,366,655. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Company 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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