First Trust Advisors LP Takes Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 30,610 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $4,195,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.23% of Argan as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 480,658 shares of the construction company's stock worth $65,869,000 after purchasing an additional 73,654 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Argan by 70.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,836,000 after buying an additional 15,681 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth about $1,373,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Argan by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,515 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,400,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,543 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $897,000 after acquiring an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total value of $725,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,264.88. The trade was a 30.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.32, for a total value of $238,380.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,188,400.64. The trade was a 16.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,308,133 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Argan stock opened at $163.76 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $132.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26 and a beta of 0.41. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.38 and a 12 month high of $191.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.07. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The company had revenue of $232.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.50 million. The business's quarterly revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Lake Street Capital raised shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th.

Argan Company Profile

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.

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