Peter Getsinger Sells 3,000 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Key Points

• Director Peter Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of Argan at an average price of $628.36 on April 29, cutting his stake by 30.47% to 6,847 shares, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Argan stock jumped about 6.7% to $672.07 on Thursday, with a market capitalization near $9.37 billion and a trailing P/E of 69.00.
• Company fundamentals and capital actions: Argan beat expectations with Q earnings of $3.47 EPS (consensus $1.99), declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend, and authorized a $200 million share repurchase program (~2.5% of shares outstanding).

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) Director Peter Getsinger sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.36, for a total value of $1,885,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,302,380.92. This represents a 30.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Argan Stock Up 6.7%

Argan stock traded up $42.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $672.07. 224,931 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,232. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $522.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.12. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $155.65 and a one year high of $683.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 69.00 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.53%.

Argan announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research raised Argan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,138,000. Thames Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,175,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $971,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Argan by 125.3% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,505 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,377,000 after purchasing an additional 6,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,629,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.