Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 6,716 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 6,716 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Argan were worth $27,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Argan by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,104 shares of the construction company's stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 76.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company's stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares during the last quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Argan by 195.6% in the third quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 10,050 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,650 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $395,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 236,745 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,703 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,494. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:AGX traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $140.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 216,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,043. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.44 and a fifty-two week high of $165.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.04 and a 200-day moving average of $103.33.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Argan Profile

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.