Argan (NYSE:AGX) Stock Price Down 5.5% - Time to Sell?

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) dropped 5.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $142.00 and last traded at $140.44. Approximately 76,114 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 491,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50 day moving average price is $150.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.92.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,405,050. The trade was a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total value of $124,192.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,977,037.48. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 419.4% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 374 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 31,371 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Argan by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Argan by 416.3% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 23,949 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 19,310 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.