Ieq Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC reduced its stake in Argan, Inc. by 58.5%, owning 2,896 shares valued at $380,000 after selling 4,086 shares in Q1.
• Argan's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.50, exceeding expectations, while revenue reached $237.74 million, below analyst projections.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Argan, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price around $202.00.

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 58.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,896 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,086 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Argan were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in Argan by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 31,086 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,078,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Argan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,067,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Argan by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Argan by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,521 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $8,463,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were 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 owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,242,711.08. This represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total transaction of $3,041,850.24. Following the sale, the director owned 196,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,589,882.34. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,564 shares of company stock worth $21,046,366 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX traded down $6.84 on Monday, hitting $204.67. The stock had a trading volume of 643,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,492. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.98 and a 1 year high of $253.79. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $222.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 0.62.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The construction company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $237.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.97 million. Argan had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 12.73%.Argan's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is presently 18.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets cut Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $236.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.00.

About Argan

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.