Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 8,126 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

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. lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 29.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund 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 reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in Argan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 31,086 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 12.7% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the construction company's stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the construction company's stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,100 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE:AGX traded down $3.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $232.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 194,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,482. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 0.54. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $63.53 and a one year high of $246.60. The business's 50-day moving average is $211.74 and its 200-day moving average is $167.58.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.04%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director James W. Quinn sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $3,442,531.44. This represents a 70.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,456 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.01, for a total transaction of $732,706.56. Following the sale, the director owned 14,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,157,888.95. This trade represents a 18.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock valued at $18,221,387. 6.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.