Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 279.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,635 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of Argan worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Argan by 31.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company's stock worth $22,336,000 after acquiring an additional 73,658 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,245,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter worth about $4,783,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth approximately $3,168,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,166,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. This represents a 12.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 2.4 %

AGX stock traded up $3.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $160.81. 218,335 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 173,056. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.74 and a 52-week high of $164.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $126.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.57 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.05 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

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.