Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 4,341 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,078 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,341 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.23% of Argan worth $4,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,204,000. Soros Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,340,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $138,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,150,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Argan Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AGX traded up $3.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $171.29. 311,630 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,760. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.62. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.53 and a twelve month high of $191.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 0.42.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.07. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The firm had revenue of $232.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.50 million. The company's revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.32, for a total transaction of $238,380.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,400.64. This represents a 16.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 5,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.03, for a total transaction of $725,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $1,667,264.88. The trade was a 30.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,857 shares of company stock worth $1,308,133. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.