Insider Selling: Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Director Sells 7,604 Shares of Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 7,604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.03, for a total value of $1,688,316.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 50,636 shares in the company, valued at $11,242,711.08. The trade was a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX traded up $3.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $209.65. 192,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,521. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.53 and a 12-month high of $246.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.30. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 0.54.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The construction company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $193.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.75 million. Argan had a return on equity of 29.61% and a net margin of 11.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.04%.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 9.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 926,168 shares of the construction company's stock worth $121,485,000 after buying an additional 82,585 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 21.0% during 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 29,062 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Argan by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 517,302 shares of the construction company's stock worth $67,855,000 after acquiring an additional 36,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Argan by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 295,349 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,475,000 after purchasing an additional 80,844 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Argan from $150.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Kepler Capital Markets lowered Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th.

Argan Company 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.