Court Place Advisors LLC Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Court Place Advisors LLC acquired 950 shares of Argan, Inc., valued at approximately $209,000, marking a new position in the company as of the 2nd quarter.
• CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 7,500 shares for over $1.9 million, resulting in a 26.31% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Argan, Inc. reported earnings of $2.50 per share, exceeding expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.38 to $0.50 per share.

Court Place Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 950 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 2,987.5% during 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. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the first quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 16,640.0% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 837 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $170,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $1,930,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,406,734.34. This represents a 26.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 13,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.12, for a total transaction of $3,618,049.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,340,278.40. This represents a 21.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,027 shares of company stock valued at $22,571,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $271.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $240.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58 and a beta of 0.64. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.02 and a 1 year high of $283.35.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.51. Argan had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.61%. The firm had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Argan's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a report on Wednesday. Glj Research began coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $220.25.

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.

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