JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,819 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,681 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.28% of Argan worth $3,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AGX. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth about $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AGX traded up $2.29 on Friday, hitting $177.64. The stock had a trading volume of 360,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,323. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.44 and a 52 week high of $181.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $150.30 and its 200 day moving average is $113.42. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16 and a beta of 0.56.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $257.00 million for 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 for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Argan's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,420,019. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

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.