First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 230,073 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Argan by 69.8%, buying 230,073 shares to hold 559,466 shares (~4.05%) valued at about $151.1 million.
• Argan beat earnings estimates with quarterly EPS of $2.17 (vs. $1.82 expected) while revenue was essentially flat at $251.15 million; the company posted a strong ROE of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—55,915 shares sold in the past 90 days worth ~$20.18 million—while institutional investors own roughly 79.4% of the stock.

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 230,073 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 4.05% of Argan worth $151,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Argan by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company's stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Argan by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Argan by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $418,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $413.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $377.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.39. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.02 and a fifty-two week high of $469.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.66 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $251.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $251.50 million. Argan had a return on equity of 31.38% and a net margin of 13.11%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 22nd. Argan's payout ratio is 23.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Argan in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $397.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. CJS Securities raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Glj Research upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $369.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $355.20.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total value of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,509.76. The trade was a 37.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 6,595 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.71, for a total transaction of $2,068,917.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,682.37. The trade was a 45.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,915 shares of company stock valued at $20,182,794. 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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