Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp trimmed its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 35.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,532 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,362 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp's holdings in Argan were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Forte Capital LLC ADV bought a new position in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,995,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Argan by 106.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,738,000 after purchasing an additional 18,609 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Argan by 2,987.5% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 247 shares of the construction company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Argan by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,838 shares of the construction company's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Argan by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,521 shares of the construction company's stock worth $8,463,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Argan Trading Up 1.5%

AGX traded up $3.05 on Friday, reaching $206.89. The stock had a trading volume of 592,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,349. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.53 and a 12-month high of $246.60. The business's 50-day moving average price is $207.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.98. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.54.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.04%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 13,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total value of $3,041,850.24. Following the sale, the director directly owned 196,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,589,882.34. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total transaction of $1,688,316.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at $11,242,711.08. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,404 shares of company stock worth $18,221,387 over the last 90 days. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Argan

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.