Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Up 9.8% in September

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 258,700 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the September 15th total of 235,700 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 221,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 15,134 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total value of $1,177,273.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 44,348 shares in the company, valued at $3,449,830.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 15,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,449,830.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,631.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,539 shares of company stock worth $4,820,475 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of 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. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Trading Up 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $129.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 46.01 and a beta of 0.53. Argan has a twelve month low of $39.74 and a twelve month high of $129.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.72.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s payout ratio is presently 53.38%.

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.