Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Up 22.1% in December

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 573,000 shares, an increase of 22.1% from the November 30th total of 469,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 309,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 4.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Argan Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AGX traded down $1.88 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $137.04. The company had a trading volume of 272,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,896. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 0.53. Argan has a twelve month low of $43.44 and a twelve month high of $165.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $144.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.08.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value 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 approximately $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,703 shares of company stock worth $3,377,544 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 81.8% in 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Argan by 31.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,245,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,687,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 72.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,586,000 after buying an additional 47,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AGX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

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.