Temasek Holdings Private Ltd Buys New Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Temasek Holdings opened a new position in Argan during the first quarter, buying 29,436 shares valued at about $16.0 million. The stake represented roughly 0.21% of the company.
• Argan posted a strong quarterly report, with EPS of $3.24 versus $2.31 expected and revenue of $290.95 million, up 50.2% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 12.6 EPS for the full fiscal year.
• The company announced a $0.50 quarterly dividend and a new $200 million share repurchase program. In addition, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $470.40.

Temasek Holdings Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,436 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $16,032,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd owned 0.21% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Argan by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 117,805 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $15,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,854 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Argan by 118.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the construction company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 13.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 35,567 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,665,000 after buying an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 37.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at $286,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:AGX opened at $603.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $676.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $545.45. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.90 and a 12 month high of $805.75.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,539,416.96. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $617.41, for a total value of $3,087,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,532,377.95. This represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 134,105 shares of company stock worth $91,724,081 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Argan Company 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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