Argan (NYSE:AGX) Trading Up 8% - Should You Buy?

Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) were up 8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $139.25 and last traded at $141.24. Approximately 171,938 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 504,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Argan Stock Performance

The business's 50-day moving average price is $150.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.61. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total transaction of $1,460,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,491,050.55. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were 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 $2,977,037.48. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGX. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.8% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,763 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,668,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Company 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.