Key Points
- Argan CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares on June 15 at an average price of $651.22, totaling about $6.5 million. After the sale, he still held 40,005 shares, and the transaction reduced his position by 19.99%.
- Watson also sold 1,880 shares on June 16 and 19,310 shares on April 17, indicating multiple recent insider sales in the stock.
- Argan recently reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also announcing a $200 million share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.
Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 1,880 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.35, for a total value of $1,329,818.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,297,536.75. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
David Hibbert Watson also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Monday, June 15th, David Hibbert Watson sold 9,993 shares of Argan stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $651.22, for a total value of $6,507,641.46.
- On Friday, April 17th, David Hibbert Watson sold 19,310 shares of Argan stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.11, for a total value of $11,626,744.10.
Argan Stock Performance
AGX opened at $690.38 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $650.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $482.75. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.82 and a twelve month high of $779.00. The firm has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.67 and a beta of 0.59.
Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The construction company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.93. Argan had a return on equity of 36.89% and a net margin of 15.48%.The company had revenue of $290.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 50.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Argan, Inc. will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Argan Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.57%.
Argan declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Institutional Trading of Argan
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,503,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Argan by 69.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 559,466 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $151,084,000 after purchasing an additional 230,073 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Argan by 168.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 253,365 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $55,862,000 after purchasing an additional 159,149 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Argan by 172.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,893 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,687,000 after acquiring an additional 145,516 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter valued at $35,629,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Argan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research cut Argan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Argan from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Argan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $470.40.
Read Our Latest Report on AGX
Argan Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.
The company's principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.
Featured Articles
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
