Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Down 4.9% – Here’s Why

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) traded down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $173.70 and last traded at $174.64. 83,866 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 394,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.82.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was 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 $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 three months, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 1.8% during the 3rd 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. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FMR LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in Argan by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

About Argan

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.