Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Decreases Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,490 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,088 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Argan worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Argan by 375.1% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Argan by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,002,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Argan by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,917 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $113.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.42 and a 1 year high of $191.46.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $1,220,666.65. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 over the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.