Freemont Management S.A. Purchases New Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Freemont Management S.A. opened a new position in Argan, buying 3,000 shares valued at about $1.63 million in the first quarter.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 versus estimates of $2.31 and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a $200 million share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $470.40.

Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,000 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,634,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Argan by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Argan by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company's stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its position in Argan by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of Argan stock opened at $548.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $679.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $539.85. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.90 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.20 and a beta of 0.57.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $617.41, for a total value of $3,087,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 36,495 shares in the company, valued at $22,532,377.95. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 4,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.65, for a total transaction of $3,350,497.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,875,512. This represents a 40.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 151,309 shares of company stock worth $102,366,655 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

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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