Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 451,100 shares, a growth of 11.2% from the October 31st total of 405,800 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 303,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. This represents a 21.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 in the last ninety days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 1.8% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Argan by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 3.5% during the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 68.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth $43,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AGX stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Monday, hitting $157.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 175,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,036. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.07 and a 200-day moving average of $94.68. Argan has a 52 week low of $39.74 and a 52 week high of $165.33.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 47.17%.

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.