Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group opened a new position in Argan, buying 17,791 shares worth about $5.57 million in the fourth quarter. The filing shows Jefferies owned roughly 0.13% of the company.
• Argan’s stock has drawn mixed but generally positive analyst attention, with recent upgrades from JPMorgan, Zacks Research, and Wall Street Zen. The consensus rating is Moderate Buy, and the average price target is $425.40.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins and Director Peter W. Getsinger, while the company also authorized a $200 million share buyback and paid a $0.50 quarterly dividend. Argan beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $3.47 EPS versus the $1.99 estimate.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,791 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,574,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total transaction of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,302,380.92. The trade was a 30.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $654.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.25 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $598.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $447.70. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $193.26 and a one year high of $748.50.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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