Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Makes New $866,000 Investment in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,540 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $866,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Argan at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.8% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Argan by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,126,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Argan by 3.5% in the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Argan by 4.4% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the construction company's stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:AGX traded down $2.19 on Wednesday, reaching $146.65. 193,404 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 171,737. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.81 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $119.77 and a 200-day moving average of $89.67. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.74 and a 52-week high of $162.78.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

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