Argan (NYSE:AGX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $184.50 and last traded at $182.72, with a volume of 3169 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $177.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Trading Down 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $151.34 and its 200-day moving average is $115.27.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.82%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,050. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new position in Argan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 16,663 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Argan by 70.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,836,000 after acquiring an additional 15,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $1,373,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.