Navellier & Associates Inc. Has $3.83 Million Stock Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 253.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,970 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,047 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Argan worth $3,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $957,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Argan by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 5,949 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Argan by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,566 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Argan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,933,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 6.1 %

Argan stock opened at $133.78 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.15 and a 12 month high of $191.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.79 and its 200-day moving average is $125.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 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 company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. The company’s revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. This trade represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan 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.