Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 270,500 shares, a decline of 9.3% from the July 15th total of 298,300 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 188,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,500 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.11, for a total value of $346,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 247,719 shares in the company, valued at $19,101,612.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 15,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total value of $1,177,273.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,348 shares in the company, valued at $3,449,830.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.11, for a total value of $346,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 247,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,101,612.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,039 shares of company stock worth $7,712,880 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 3,321.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AGX. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th.

Argan Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AGX traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.00. The stock had a trading volume of 106,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,754. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.22. The firm has a market cap of $974.55 million, a PE ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 0.51. Argan has a one year low of $39.67 and a one year high of $81.05.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The construction company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $157.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.75 million. Argan had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 13.22%. Argan’s quarterly revenue was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 42.70%.

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.