Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Sells 95,305 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management cut its Argan stake by 60.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 95,305 shares and leaving it with 61,450 shares worth about $19.3 million.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.47 versus the $1.99 estimate and revenue of $262.05 million, while also authorizing a $200 million share repurchase program.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including the CEO and a director, even as analysts remain mixed; the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with a $425.40 price target, though Argan was trading well above that level at $666.85.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 60.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,450 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 95,305 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.44% of Argan worth $19,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AGX. First Trust Advisors LP boosted 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. lifted its position 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 valued at $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,647,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 800 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $619.88, for a total value of $495,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,940. The trade was a 61.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of AGX stock opened at $666.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $614.67 and a 200-day moving average of $456.76. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $748.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.46 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The company had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Argan's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Announces Dividend

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.