Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP cut its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 23.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 131,950 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 40,161 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Argan were worth $13,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth approximately $866,000. Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth approximately $395,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Argan by 279.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,635 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 10,041 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Argan by 1.8% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in Argan by 108.6% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Stock Down 8.4 %

NYSE:AGX opened at $136.63 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.74 and a 52 week high of $162.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.97 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.10.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $227.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. 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 was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s payout ratio is currently 47.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. The trade was a 22.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794 over the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.