Argan (NYSE:AGX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $136.02 and last traded at $135.82, with a volume of 115678 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Argan Stock Up 3.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.51 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.45.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 47.17%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total transaction of $896,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 valued at $4,257,794 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in Argan by 1.2% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 3.5% in the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 4.4% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in Argan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.