Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Buys New Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,035 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 480,658 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $65,869,000 after acquiring an additional 73,654 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Argan by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,836,000 after acquiring an additional 15,681 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,373,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,515 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,543 shares of the construction company's stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 1,565 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.32, for a total transaction of $238,380.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,188,400.64. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,292 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.35, for a total transaction of $344,602.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,325. This trade represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,308,133. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX traded up $6.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $174.64. The stock had a trading volume of 103,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,763. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.53 and a 52 week high of $191.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.