Legal & General Group Plc Invests $25 Million in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 31,310 Argan shares worth approximately $25 million, gaining a 0.22% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 79.43% of the company.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 versus the $2.31 consensus estimate and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $470.40 average price target. Meanwhile, insiders sold roughly $87.6 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 31,310 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $25,003,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Argan by 32.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,010,000 after acquiring an additional 192,204 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Argan in the second quarter valued at $131,878,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX opened at $419.92 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.00 and a fifty-two week high of $805.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $606.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $582.92. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Argan from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $470.40.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.00, for a total value of $1,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,411,120. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.43, for a total value of $15,208,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 40,976 shares in the company, valued at $31,159,379.68. The trade was a 32.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan Company 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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