Forte Capital LLC ADV Takes Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Forte Capital LLC ADV purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 45,704 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,995,000. Forte Capital LLC ADV owned about 0.34% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Argan by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Argan by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 31,086 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,078,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,763 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,668,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE AGX traded up $3.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $206.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 592,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,819. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $207.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.50. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.53 and a twelve month high of $246.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.54.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $193.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.75 million. Argan had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 29.61%. Argan's revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total value of $3,041,850.24. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 196,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,589,882.34. The trade was a 6.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total transaction of $1,688,316.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at $11,242,711.08. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock worth $18,221,387 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

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.