Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $17.29 Million Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management acquired 21,653 Argan shares worth approximately $17.29 million, while institutional investors collectively own 79.43% of the company.
• Argan reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 versus the $2.31 consensus estimate and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year.
• Insiders sold 127,973 shares worth $87.55 million during the last quarter, while analyst sentiment remains mixed: four Buy ratings and four Hold ratings produce a “Moderate Buy” consensus.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 21,653 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $17,291,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,764,086,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $478,000. Covenant Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,748,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,728,000. Finally, Thames Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Argan by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,228,000 after purchasing an additional 10,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total transaction of $3,350,497.20. Following the sale, the director owned 6,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,875,512. The trade was a 40.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total transaction of $6,507,641.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $450.21 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.00 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $624.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $582.53. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given 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 was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.

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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