Argan (NYSE:AGX) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Argan Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 in the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Argan by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 16,663 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 70.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth about $1,373,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth about $6,687,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.