Insider Selling: Argan (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells 300 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Argan director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares on June 17 at an average price of $705 each, reducing her stake by 16.23%. The sale was worth about $211,500 and was disclosed in an SEC filing.
• The stock was trading higher, rising 4.3% to $720.28 during Wednesday’s session. Argan has a market cap of about $10.1 billion and is trading near its 52-week high of $779.
• Argan recently posted strong quarterly results, beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue, with revenue up 50.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend and has a $200 million share buyback authorization in place.

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) Director Karen Sweeney sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.00, for a total value of $211,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,091,340. The trade was a 16.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Argan Trading Up 4.3%

AGX stock traded up $29.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $720.28. The company had a trading volume of 317,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,867. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.82 and a 52 week high of $779.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $650.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $482.75. The stock has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.29 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The firm had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding 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 usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Argan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argan’s backlog is heavily weighted toward gas projects, and rising power demand could help support future growth and revenue visibility. Argan's Backlog Is 79% Gas-Focused: Can Power Demand Fuel Upside?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also recently reported strong quarterly results, with earnings and revenue both beating expectations, which continues to reinforce the bullish long-term setup for AGX.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales by CEO David Hibbert Watson, Chairman William F. Griffin Jr., and Director Cynthia Flanders may raise some caution among investors, even though the sales do not necessarily signal a change in business fundamentals. Argan NYSE: AGX CEO David Hibbert Watson Sells 1,880 Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AGX. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 2.0% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Argan by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its holdings in Argan by 0.6% in the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,030 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,734,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings 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 period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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