Palogic Value Management L.P. Buys New Shares in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Palogic Value Management purchased 2,800 Argan shares worth approximately $2.24 million, making AGX its 26th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 79.43% of the company.
• Argan insiders sold 127,973 shares valued at $87.6 million over the past 90 days, including substantial sales by the CFO and chairman.
• Argan beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $3.24 EPS and $290.95 million in revenue, up 50.2% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $470.40.

Palogic Value Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,800 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,236,000. Argan accounts for approximately 0.7% of Palogic Value Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.30, for a total transaction of $557,308.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,550.70. This represents a 33.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $31,159,379.68. This represents a 32.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE AGX opened at $455.92 on Thursday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.00 and a 12 month high of $805.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 40.06 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $618.79 and its 200 day moving average is $583.32.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is 17.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AGX. Zacks Research lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Argan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $470.40.

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.

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