Silvant Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Silvant Capital Management initiated a new Argan position of 8,592 shares valued at approximately $6.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.43% of the company.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 beating estimates by $0.93 and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year. The company also pays a $0.50 quarterly dividend, yielding approximately 0.4%.
• AGX shares opened at $514.42, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $470.40 target price. Insiders sold 127,973 shares worth $87.6 million over the past three months.

Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,592 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,861,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Argan at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Argan during the second quarter worth $1,764,086,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company's stock worth $259,267,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Argan by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company's stock worth $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 610,899 shares of the construction company's stock worth $332,726,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 464,759 shares of the construction company's stock worth $253,131,000 after buying an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $514.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.20 and a beta of 0.61. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.00 and a 52-week high of $805.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $636.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $580.18.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Argan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.64, for a total transaction of $3,313,222.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,468,228.12. This represents a 69.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,056.10. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 127,973 shares of company stock worth $87,554,828 in the last three months. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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