30,255 Shares in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Purchased by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. has acquired approximately $3.97 million worth of Argan, Inc. shares, acquiring a total of 30,255 shares, which represents about 0.22% of the company.
• Argan's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.60, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $193.66 million, reflecting a 22.8% year-over-year growth.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, with an annual yield of 0.63%, and a payout ratio of 21.04%.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,255 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,969,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned 0.22% of Argan at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 843,583 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $115,605,000 after purchasing an additional 16,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company's stock worth $92,170,000 after acquiring an additional 116,783 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Argan by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 529,052 shares of the construction company's stock worth $72,502,000 after acquiring an additional 29,062 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Argan by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,475,000 after acquiring an additional 80,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 292,956 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,710 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Kepler Capital Markets lowered Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Argan in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Argan has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $202.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 2,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.63, for a total transaction of $617,586.23. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,180,520.02. This trade represents a 22.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,970. The trade was a 25.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,564 shares of company stock worth $21,046,366 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Down 8.0%

NYSE:AGX traded down $19.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $225.32. 869,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 431,538. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.12. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $63.53 and a one year high of $253.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.51. Argan had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $193.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.75 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is presently 21.04%.

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.