D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 5,115 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson reduced its stake in Argan by 25.7% in Q4, selling 5,115 shares and leaving 14,782 shares (about 0.11% of the company), while institutional investors collectively own 79.43% and large funds like Vanguard and First Trust have recently increased positions.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: the CFO sold 600 shares and the CEO sold 19,310 shares in April, with insiders disposing of a total of 61,193 shares worth $36.95 million over the past three months (insiders now own 6.69%).
• Analysts and fundamentals are positive—multiple upgrades to Buy/Strong Buy and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (average target $425.40)—supported by a quarterly EPS beat ($3.47 vs. $1.99) and a board-authorized $200 million share buyback plus a $0.50 quarterly dividend.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,782 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 5,115 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. owned 0.11% of Argan worth $4,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company's stock worth $259,267,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Argan by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after acquiring an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Argan by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company's stock worth $117,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Argan by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Argan by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company's stock worth $80,632,000 after acquiring an additional 68,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Argan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.60, for a total transaction of $363,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at $895,682.40. The trade was a 28.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. This represents a 27.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 61,193 shares of company stock worth $36,949,173 over the last three months. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Argan stock opened at $628.56 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.97 and a 52 week high of $683.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.53 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $522.87 and a 200-day moving average of $403.12.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. The business had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.Argan's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Argan's payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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