Insider Selling: Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Chairman Sells $899,850.00 in Stock

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.99, for a total value of $899,850.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,858.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Argan Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $61.92 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $819.82 million, a P/E ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 0.49. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.37 and a 52 week high of $62.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.16.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 50.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Argan by 390.9% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,620 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the first quarter worth about $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

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.