Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 72.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,224 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.85% of Argan worth $11,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Argan by 108.6% in the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings in Argan by 76.2% in the second 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 during the period. Saturna Capital Corp bought a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at $395,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 283.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 57,536 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,836,000 after acquiring an additional 42,527 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,166,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. This represents a 21.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE AGX traded up $4.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $158.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,264. Argan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.74 and a twelve month high of $162.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.45 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $122.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.51.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. Argan had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.17%.

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.