Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the construction company on Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th.

Argan has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Argan has a payout ratio of 30.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $10.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.91. 557,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,991. Argan has a 52 week low of $37.37 and a 52 week high of $61.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.52. The company has a market cap of $798.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.14. Argan had a net margin of 6.44% and a return on equity of 12.04%. The business had revenue of $164.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $162.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Argan by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 120,094 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter worth about $109,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Argan in the first quarter worth about $340,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Argan by 45.5% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,933 shares of the construction company's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Argan by 4.1% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,946 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday.

About Argan

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.