Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 80,415 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management boosted its Argan stake by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 80,415 additional shares and ending with 400,379 shares worth about $125.5 million.
• Argan reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.24 beating estimates and revenue of $290.95 million topping expectations, up 50.2% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $200 million share buyback, while Argan also continued paying a quarterly dividend, signaling confidence in its outlook and capital-return strategy.

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 400,379 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 80,415 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.89% of Argan worth $125,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 12.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $15,452,000 after buying an additional 12,854 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 118.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 2,881 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 13.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,665,000 after buying an additional 4,196 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 37.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total transaction of $5,053,649.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AGX opened at $689.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.80 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.82 and a 1-year high of $748.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $631.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.66.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The firm's revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan's payout ratio is currently 20.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $425.40.

Key Argan News

Here are the key news stories impacting Argan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argan beat expectations with EPS of $3.24 versus $2.27 expected, while revenue rose to $290.95 million, topping estimates and jumping 50.2% year over year. The results reinforce the company’s momentum in power infrastructure construction. Argan, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management said it expects to add new projects over the next 10 to 18 months, supporting confidence in future growth and backlog conversion. Argan anticipates adding new projects over the next 10 to 18 months while buyback authorization rises to $200M
• Positive Sentiment: The board expanded the share repurchase authorization to $200 million, adding another capital-return catalyst alongside the company’s dividend and potentially supporting the stock. Argan anticipates adding new projects over the next 10 to 18 months while buyback authorization rises to $200M
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings-call coverage highlighted record revenue growth and strategic expansion, but these items largely reinforce the already-reported quarterly beat rather than add a new surprise. Argan Inc (AGX) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Highlights

About Argan

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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