Jane Street Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Jane Street Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,886 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 46,570 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.14% of Argan worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Argan by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company's stock worth $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Argan by 7.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 537,296 shares of the construction company's stock worth $39,309,000 after acquiring an additional 38,300 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Argan by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $35,905,000 after acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Argan by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company's stock worth $22,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company's stock worth $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 43,258 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.57. 80,985 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 183,627. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.44 and a 1 year high of $165.33. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $143.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.80.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Argan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital lowered Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 approximately $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,703 shares of company stock worth $3,377,544 over the last quarter. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.