Credit Agricole S A Sells 9,816 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A reduced its stake in Argan, Inc. by 47.3%, selling 9,816 shares and leaving it with 10,951 shares worth approximately $1.4 million.
• Multiple institutional investors made significant changes to their positions in Argan, with 79.43% of the stock currently held by such investors.
• Analysts have diverse views on Argan, with one upgrading the price target to $236 and others downgrading ratings, resulting in an average consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $202.

Credit Agricole S A decreased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 47.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,951 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 9,816 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A owned 0.08% of Argan worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 419.4% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 16,640.0% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 837 shares of the construction company's stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 15,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.47, for a total transaction of $3,307,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,369,871.16. The trade was a 30.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.92, for a total value of $8,316,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,442,531.44. This trade represents a 70.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,564 shares of company stock valued at $21,046,366 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded down $16.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $225.34. The company had a trading volume of 261,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,100. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.81 and a 12 month high of $253.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.35. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. The company 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 for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 research note on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started 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. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $202.00.

About Argan

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.