Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Price Down 4.9% – Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) fell 4.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $173.70 and last traded at $174.64. 83,866 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 394,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Stock Down 5.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.99 and a 200-day moving average of $115.75.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. This trade represents a 38.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Argan by 81.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth about $6,687,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Argan by 72.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,586,000 after buying an additional 47,881 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,783,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth $3,168,000. 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.