Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Down 3.7% – Should You Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)’s stock price fell 3.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $129.30 and last traded at $128.81. 136,522 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 506,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Argan Trading Down 2.6 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 0.56.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Argan’s payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total transaction of $124,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,977,037.48. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359 in the last three months. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGX. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Argan by 108.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Argan by 76.2% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 worth $3,836,000 after acquiring an additional 15,681 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth about $1,373,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Argan by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,905,000 after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.