Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Argan, Inc. by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 0.15% of the company's shares, valued at about $2.6 million.
• Multiple large investors showed interest in Argan in the fourth quarter, with LPL Financial LLC increasing its position by 138.2% to over $3.5 million.
• Argan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.50, with a yield of 0.63%.

Navellier & Associates Inc. decreased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,844 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 8,126 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned about 0.15% of Argan worth $2,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 843,583 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $115,605,000 after acquiring an additional 16,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $92,170,000 after acquiring an additional 116,783 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 529,052 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $72,502,000 after acquiring an additional 29,062 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,475,000 after acquiring an additional 80,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 292,956 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,710 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total value of $1,688,316.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,242,711.08. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.92, for a total transaction of $8,316,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,442,531.44. This represents a 70.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 85,404 shares of company stock valued at $18,221,387. 6.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $12.23 on Friday, hitting $236.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 528,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,594. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.53 and a 12-month high of $246.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $211.74 and a 200-day moving average of $167.42.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $193.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Argan in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $202.00.

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.