Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $2.12 Million Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 120.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,260 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,769 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.34% of Argan worth $2,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Argan by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 22,904 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,904 shares of the construction company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Argan by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,321 shares of the construction company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,918 shares of the construction company's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. 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, April 12th.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total transaction of $166,833.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,098.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Argan news, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.99, for a total transaction of $899,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $848,858.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total transaction of $166,833.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,608 shares in the company, valued at $470,098.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,606 shares of company stock valued at $2,394,182 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $65.01. The stock had a trading volume of 142,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,435. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.33. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.37 and a fifty-two week high of $65.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $860.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26 and a beta of 0.43.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $164.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $162.05 million. Argan had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.46) earnings per share.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 19th. Argan's payout ratio is 50.21%.

About Argan

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.