Truist Financial Corp Sells 5,583 Shares of Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its Argan stake by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,583 shares and leaving it with 12,791 shares valued at about $4.0 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with director Peter W. Getsinger and CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins both selling shares recently; over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,543 shares worth about $39.1 million.
• Argan posted strong results and returned cash to shareholders, beating quarterly EPS estimates and revenue expectations, while its board authorized a $200 million share buyback and the company paid a $0.50 quarterly dividend.

Truist Financial Corp lowered its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,791 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 5,583 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.09% of Argan worth $4,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Argan by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 827,482 shares of the construction company's stock worth $259,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after buying an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Argan by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 435,761 shares of the construction company's stock worth $117,677,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Argan by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 324,356 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,514,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,582 shares of the construction company's stock worth $80,632,000 after acquiring an additional 68,689 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total transaction of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,302,380.92. The trade was a 30.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Edwin Iv Collins sold 11,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.61, for a total value of $6,879,979.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,847,215.20. This represents a 26.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,543 shares of company stock worth $39,054,956. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX stock opened at $678.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.69 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50-day moving average is $553.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $420.86. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.79 and a fifty-two week high of $742.30.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The business had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Argan announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.53%.

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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