Argan (NYSE:AGX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $163.10 and last traded at $160.27, with a volume of 20588 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $158.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Up 2.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 50.57 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.05 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.17%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of Argan stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The trade was a 12.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at about $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently 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.