Argan (NYSE:AGX) Shares Down 4.9% - Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) shares were down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $173.70 and last traded at $174.64. 83,866 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 394,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.82.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. The business's revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

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 $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,949,099.68. This represents a 38.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Argan by 108.6% in the third 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 period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Argan by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,552 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 5,430 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Argan by 70.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,819 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,836,000 after buying an additional 15,681 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter worth $1,373,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Argan by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,905,000 after acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

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.