William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $19.85 Million Stake in Argan, Inc. $AGX

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management trimmed its Argan stake by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, though it still held about 63,361 shares valued at roughly $19.85 million.
• Argan has seen notable insider selling, including recent sales by Director William F. Leimkuhler and CEO David Hibbert Watson, totaling more than $39 million over the last three months.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a $200 million share buyback along with a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,361 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 8,190 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Argan worth $19,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Argan by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Argan by 26.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 147 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,564 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 1.3% in the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AGX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $425.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 8,444 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.49, for a total value of $5,053,649.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,834,342.55. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total transaction of $11,626,744.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,998 shares in the company, valued at $30,104,295.78. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,543 shares of company stock valued at $39,054,956. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock opened at $654.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.25 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $598.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $447.70. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $193.26 and a one year high of $748.50.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The company's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.53%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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