Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Down 5.5% – Here’s What Happened

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shares fell 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $142.00 and last traded at $140.44. 76,114 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 491,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AGX. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.92.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total transaction of $124,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,977,037.48. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction 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 represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 419.4% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.