David Hibbert Watson Sells 10,000 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Argan Stock Performance

Shares of Argan stock opened at $139.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $142.51 and a 200 day moving average of $102.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.44 and a fifty-two week high of $165.33.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.60 million. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Argan by 108.6% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares during the period. Penn Mutual Asset Management lifted its stake in Argan by 195.6% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 10,050 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,650 shares in the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $395,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Argan by 279.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,635 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.