Royce & Associates LP Decreases Holdings in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its Argan stake by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 60,616 shares valued at about $19.0 million.
• Several insiders sold stock recently, including Director Peter W. Getsinger and Director William F. Leimkuhler, while insiders collectively sold 64,543 shares last quarter.
• Argan beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and the board approved a $200 million share repurchase program; the stock also trades near its 52-week high after a recent 2.6% gain.

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,616 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 25,176 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.44% of Argan worth $18,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Argan by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $55,862,000 after acquiring an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Argan by 172.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,629,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,647,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total transaction of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,302,380.92. This trade represents a 30.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $619.88, for a total transaction of $495,904.00. Following the sale, the director owned 500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,940. The trade was a 61.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGX has been the subject of several research reports. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.40.

Argan Trading Up 2.6%

Argan stock opened at $673.63 on Wednesday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $748.50. The stock has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.16 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $602.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.16.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $255.32 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Argan's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.53%.

Argan 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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