Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $156.15, but opened at $151.35. Argan shares last traded at $152.01, with a volume of 75,331 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AGX shares. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

Argan Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.85 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.27.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The business’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 47.17%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,962.40. The trade was a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 236,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.