William Griffin Jr Sells 50,000 Shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Key Points

• Argan Chairman William Griffin Jr. sold 50,000 shares on June 12 at an average price of $643.46, totaling about $32.2 million. After the sale, he still owned 90,976 shares, a 35.47% reduction in his position.
• Argan reported strong quarterly results, posting $3.24 EPS versus the $2.31 consensus estimate and revenue of $290.95 million versus expectations of $256.03 million. Revenue rose 50.2% year over year, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.
• The stock remains well supported by investors and analysts, with 79.43% of shares held by institutions and a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy.” Argan is also in the midst of a $200 million stock buyback authorization.

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) Chairman William Griffin, Jr. sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.46, for a total transaction of $32,173,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 90,976 shares in the company, valued at $58,539,416.96. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Argan Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AGX stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $690.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 382,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,659. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $648.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.56. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.82 and a 12-month high of $779.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 60.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. Argan had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 36.89%. The business's revenue was up 50.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.57%.

Argan declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 172.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock worth $50,687,000 after purchasing an additional 145,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,629,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Lake Street Capital raised their price target on shares of Argan from $375.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Argan to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Argan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $470.40.

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.

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