Wesbanco Bank Inc. Trims Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. decreased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,000 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,274 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. owned 0.12% of Argan worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Argan news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total value of $1,220,666.65. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX traded down $6.71 on Friday, hitting $168.22. The company had a trading volume of 572,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,860. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $151.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 0.56. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.94 and a 1 year high of $191.46.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AGX. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a report on Friday, December 6th.

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.