Polar Capital Holdings Plc Acquires Shares of 50,076 Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 50,076 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned approximately 0.37% of Argan at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Argan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 843,583 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $115,605,000 after buying an additional 16,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Argan by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $92,170,000 after buying an additional 116,783 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Argan by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 529,052 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $72,502,000 after buying an additional 29,062 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Argan by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 480,658 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $65,869,000 after buying an additional 73,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Argan by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,475,000 after buying an additional 80,844 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total transaction of $725,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,667,264.88. This trade represents a 30.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,565 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 7,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,400.64. This represents a 16.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,308,133 over the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded up $6.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $195.72. 196,393 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,732. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $145.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95 and a beta of 0.42. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.53 and a 12-month high of $197.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

Argan 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.