The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $6.16 Million Position in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company initiated a $6.16 million position in Argan during the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively owned 79.43% of the company.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.24 and revenue of $290.95 million, beating estimates and representing 50.2% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts remain moderately bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $470.40 price target, although several firms recently downgraded the stock to “Hold.”

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,709 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,156,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,764,086,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Argan by 32.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,353 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,010,000 after buying an additional 192,204 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth about $131,878,000. Finally, 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Argan stock opened at $419.92 on Monday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.00 and a 12-month high of $805.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $606.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $584.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The company 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is 17.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several 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 note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Argan from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Lake Street Capital lifted their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,340. This represents a 16.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joshua Scott Baugher sold 760 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,550.70. This represents a 33.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 127,973 shares of company stock valued at $87,554,828 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

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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