Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Invests $6.69 Million in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 65,928 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,687,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.49% of Argan as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Argan by 81.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 73,658 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,245,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Argan by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,586,000 after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,783,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, 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 transaction of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 236,745 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,015,962.45. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,703 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,994. Insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Performance

AGX traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $146.66. The stock had a trading volume of 309,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,053. The business has a 50-day moving average of $140.19 and a 200-day moving average of $100.82. Argan, Inc. has a one year low of $43.44 and a one year high of $165.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Argan's payout ratio is 31.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. CJS Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

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.