Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Purchases 6,761 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 45.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,712 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,761 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Argan were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,701,000 after acquiring an additional 12,162 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Argan by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 537,296 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,309,000 after acquiring an additional 38,300 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,336,000 after acquiring an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after buying an additional 43,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Argan by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 112,979 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,266,000 after buying an additional 3,314 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $136.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $103.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.05 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.74 and a 1-year high of $138.04.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total value of $602,383.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 236,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794. 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.