Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in Argan, Inc. by 41.4%, selling 25,556 shares during the first quarter, while still holding approximately 0.27% of the company's stock worth $4.75 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Argan, with one buy rating, three hold ratings, and an average price target of $210.00, while some brokerages have issued price targets as high as $260.00.
• Argan recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, an increase from the previous $0.38, giving an annualized yield of 0.9% and reflecting a payout ratio of 18.03%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 41.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,222 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 25,556 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.27% of Argan worth $4,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Goodlander Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,364,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter worth $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Argan by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $121,485,000 after acquiring an additional 82,585 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter worth $9,958,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Argan by 258.0% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 101,181 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,272,000 after acquiring an additional 72,922 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,242,711.08. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $469,120.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,371,751.68. The trade was a 5.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,836 shares of company stock valued at $6,380,666 in the last 90 days. 6.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of 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 stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Argan in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $210.00.

Argan Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AGX traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $230.80. The stock had a trading volume of 305,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,454. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.42. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.79 and a 1 year high of $253.79.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.03%.

Argan Company 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.