Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 3,425 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its Argan stake by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,425 shares and leaving the fund with 21,408 shares valued at about $6.7 million.
• Analysts have turned more constructive on Argan, with JPMorgan upgrading the stock to overweight and Goldman Sachs raising its price target to $518; the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy.
• Argan posted strong quarterly results, reporting $3.47 EPS versus the $1.99 estimate and revenue of $262.05 million, while also announcing a $200 million share buyback and a $0.50 quarterly dividend.

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,408 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,425 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance owned 0.15% of Argan worth $6,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after acquiring an additional 230,073 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,647,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE AGX opened at $681.28 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $557.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $423.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.95 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.59 and a 52 week high of $742.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.Argan's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,636 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,894.60. This trade represents a 55.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

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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