Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Increases Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Argan, Inc. by 4.8%, now holding approximately 114,839 shares worth $15.06 million.
• Argan reported earnings of $1.60 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates significantly, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 22.8%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.50 and a yield of 0.7%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,839 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,298 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.84% of Argan worth $15,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $23,064,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth $11,307,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Argan by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $121,485,000 after buying an additional 82,585 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the first quarter worth $9,958,000. Finally, Soros Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,340,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $202.00.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $469,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,371,751.68. This represents a 5.98% 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, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,506 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,970. This trade represents a 25.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,564 shares of company stock worth $21,046,366 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $216.37. 36,639 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 430,296. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.07. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $69.81 and a one year high of $253.79.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.51. Argan had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 29.61%. The business had revenue of $193.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is 21.04%.

Argan 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.