Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $148.82, but opened at $156.25. Argan shares last traded at $145.50, with a volume of 267,112 shares changing hands.

The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 1.02%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total transaction of $896,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,444.96. The trade was a 12.43 % 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 Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in Argan by 108.6% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Argan by 76.2% during the second 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 last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Penn Mutual Asset Management increased its holdings in Argan by 195.6% during the third quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 10,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after buying an additional 6,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Argan by 283.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,836,000 after buying an additional 42,527 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 46.80 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.64.

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.