Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 165,528 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 18,432 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.23% of Argan worth $16,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Argan by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,656 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Argan by 84.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth about $397,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company's stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

NYSE AGX traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $147.12. 814,039 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 266,262. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.74 and a 52-week high of $165.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50-day moving average is $135.32 and its 200-day moving average is $97.63.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. This represents a 22.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total value of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AGX. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

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.