Argan (NYSE:AGX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Argan (NYSE:AGX) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Separately, Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX opened at $61.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $810.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.49. Argan has a 1 year low of $37.37 and a 1 year high of $61.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.83.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $164.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.05 million. Argan had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 5.64%. Argan’s revenue was up 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.46) earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Argan by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 120,094 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter worth about $109,000. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Argan in the 1st quarter worth about $340,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,933 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Argan by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,946 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Argan

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.